Sweeter Than Chocolate
by sarabrighton73
Summary: A year has passed since the Great Thaw, settling on her role as Queen, Elsa strived to do her best for her people. But when she had to face an old enemy, the major growing conflict that threatened the peace of the nation, and the discovery of an old agreement, will she be able to handle everything?
1. Chapter 1:The Midnight Letter

**Author Note:**

 **This is my first Frozen fanfic, I've been an avid reader in Frozen fandom but was a bit nervous about starting one.**

 **After a lot of consideration, I decided to give it a try anyway. I would really appreciate any reviews from you all. Enjoy. - B**

* * *

CHAPTER 1: The Midnight Letter and Prince of Edelwest

Elsa sat in front of her desk. Literally buried in a bunch of paperwork. She glanced at the grandfather clock that indicated it was almost midnight. She sighed and rubbed her temple. This is why she never a big fan of paperwork. Even how much she hates it, she couldn't just abandon them. Most of these stacks are trade agreement and stuff. She wished she could have a magical power that could magically finish all of this stuff in a matter of minutes. It was Friday night which means tomorrow is Saturday. That's one of the reason she wanted to finish this by tonight, so tomorrow she could do something else. She closed her eyes for a second then opened it again. Glanced back at the paperwork in front of her. Fortunately, this was the last one. She sighed. She opened it and started to read that last trade document.

It's been a year since her coronation last year. She remembered it correctly. The eternal winter she accidentally set in Arendelle. Though she still wasn't sure how that happened. Sometimes she is often wondered what she is capable of. Even until now, she doesn't have a logical explanation on how she could build a walking talking snowman like Olaf and Marshmallow. Or how she could set off an eternal winter on Arendelle. That was an unpleasant memory for her but it was also something that brought her here now. If something like that never happened, she wasn't sure she could be here. The gates might still be close and she might not have a chance to reconnect and rekindle her relationship with Anna again.

A knocked on her door interrupted her concentration. She frowned a little. Who would be outside her study this late?

"Enter." She granted. The door swung open. Kai appeared in his usual green attire. He bowed.

"Your Majesty, I just received this letter addressed to you." He handed her a letter. She furrowed her eyebrows.

It was unusual for a letter to arrive at this hour. It usually delivers to her in the morning. She received that letter and saw the familiar seal embedded in the back of the envelope.

"Thank you Kai. That'll be all." She said to the older man. Kai nodded slightly and bowed before he left the study.

She ripped it carefully and unfolded the letter. She recognised the handwriting immediately. She couldn't help but smile.

 _HM Queen Elsa Aleksandra of Arendelle,_

 _I hope this letter finds you and your sister in good health. First, I want to apologise for not attended your coronation last year. I was assigned as a delegation for Edelwest on a political matter. But I knew all the details from my brother Prince Robert who was there at your coronation. I must say I was shocked when I first heard the news about it. It's been a few years since the last time I saw you. People talked about it. They talked about some sorceress from Arendelle who set off an eternal winter in the whole kingdom._

 _I'm sorry something like that happened. I couldn't help but feel guilty because I wasn't there. If I was there maybe I could prevent something like that from happening. Remember the last ball we attended together? Or maybe almost every ball you attended with me it seemed, I was the only reason you could be distracted._

 _I'm sure it must've been hard for you. I clearly understood how excruciating it was for you and Anna. But here you are right now. Stepped in as a ruler of Arendelle. I never had a doubt that you'd make a wonderful and magnificent ruler._

 _Elsa my dear,_

 _If I may be so bold to say, I miss you. It's been almost five years since the last time I saw you. And when I received your invitation to attend the anniversary of your coronation, I decided to come to Arendelle. Let's just say, this is me being sorry for not being there last year. I will be there two weeks before the anniversary ball._

 _I look forward to see your beautiful smile again, soon._

 _Yours Truly_

 _HRH Prince Richard Rutherford of Edelwest._

 _P.S: Wow, I can't believe you're a Queen now. It means I should call you, Your Majesty. Hmm, it sounded pretty on you._

Elsa snorted and couldn't help but chuckle softly. Only one person in her life she knew who could lump sympathetic expression and flirtatious banter together in one letter. That person is Prince Richard of Edelwest. Her one and only friend. At least throughout her isolation years only his letters she found quite enjoyable other than books. They knew each other for a long time. She was only nine and Richard was only ten back then. It was an unexpected encounter.

Elsa took a glance at the book that was placed next to her stack of paperwork. It all started because of that book. She reached the book and brushed the cover before opening it. Soon, she found herself lost in each every word in that book.

* * *

 _Arendelle, 1828_

 _"_ Why do you like this story?" the boy with brown hair asked.

The room was lit. It was warm that night even though it was snowing outside. This year is going to be another long winter for Arendelle. It will usually last 8-10 months. It never bothered Elsa for sure. She likes the cold. One thing that troubled her is that when the dark winter would come. Because there'll be no light and no sun at all. She wouldn't know if it is morning or night because there will be no difference. The sun will not set in. That terrified her. She used to spend the dark winter with Anna. But ever since their parents separated both of them, Elsa couldn't find a peace of mind every time the dark winter reaches Arendelle. She would lock herself in her room and terrifies, worst, she would freeze her room solid. She hates the darkness.

Her mind was wondering around. She didn't really pay much attention to what the boy said.

"Are you even listening to me?" asked the boy again. This time, he got her attention.

"Sorry. What did you ask?"

"I'm asking, why do you like this story?" he pointed to the book in her lap.

"Oh. Hmm.. the sacrifice." she said barely audible. She lowered her head.

The boy smiled.

"The thing you would do for sibling, right?" he continued. She turned to him. He seems like he genuinely knew what she feels for this book.

"You've read it, haven't you?" she guessed. He nodded.

"It never ceased to amaze me what the younger one did for her eleven older brothers. The younger is always the spare. They're nothing like their older siblings. An extra button on a coat in case another one comes lose. There's not much they could do. Never been prioritised."

Elsa was still looking at him. Intrigued. She knew he understood the meaning of the story. Sacrifice. But it seemed he has a different approach and angle of understanding the story. She didn't say anything but only looked at him. She gave him a look as if asking for an explanation.

"I've always wondering what is it like to be prioritised. To be the one with the bigger expectation from my parents. To be more than just a spare. Back home, my older brother Robert is always the one that my parents considered as important. Because he's the one who will ascend the throne right after my father. My parents attention are always to him,"

"But then, when I read this book, I was quite in awe and adored Elisa the Wild Swan. Because in spite of being the younger and the spare, she still would do anything in her power to save her eleven brothers from the curse. That sacrifice is really beautiful. And I realised that no matter how much jealousy I have for my brother, I would do the same thing as Elisa if something bad happen to him. You would do whatever it takes to protect the ones you loved. Even if it means a huge sacrifice."

She looked at him in amazement. She never knew what is it like to be treated poorly by her parents. Because she's just like what he described. She's always the one that her parents prioritised. Even before the accident happened. She is always the one who steals her parents attention. She is expected to have a high manner. Always dictated about what she should do or shouldn't do. Her parents would be mad if she had a little scrape on her knees and would lecture her strictly about her behaviour. Sometimes it frustrated her. She wanted to be free. She wanted to do things as she wishes. But she never could do that.

Anna is always the one with such a high spirit. She is free to do whatever she wants. She hops a lot, jumps and laughs hysterically and no one would be bother by that. She envies her for that often times. She wanted to have a life like that, to be carefree and cheerful. Not to be dictated. She wondered if that's what Anna feels for her. Just like the dark haired boy beside her.

"You should be grateful. To be the one who's free to do anything you want. The older is the one who's always been dictated what to do. And believe me, it is uncomfortable. But I agree about the sacrifice. I would do anything if it means to protect my sister." she finally said. She lowered her head once more when she said her last sentence.

It didn't go unnoticed by him. Slowly her gloomy feelings triggered something she didn't even realised at first.

"It's snowing in here. Wait, where's the snow coming from?" The boy asked while looking around. Confused.

Elsa snapped at the realisation and instantly tensed. Terrified by the thought of hurting the boy. The unpleasant memory of the accident last year possessed her.

"Leave me alone." she said firmly.

"What?"

"I said leave me alone!" she pressed.

"Don't be ridiculous, why would I do that?"

Elsa didn't answer him. She was really nervous. Afraid of doing something beyond her control. She just hoped that her powers would not spiralling out of control.

A realisation dawned to him. He looked at her with an indescribable look. A look she was mistaken as fear.

"It's you, isn't it? You're making it snow!" his face lightened up in an instant. Elsa frowned. Found a little courage to look at him.

"Just, go. I… I don't want to hurt you."

"Hurt me? You could never hurt me." he said. Still awestruck by the realisation.

She shot him a look of disagreement.

"I mean, not that you couldn't. Duh! I bet you could but I don't think you would." He raised his eyebrow smugly and continued,

"That is why! You like the book because you saw yourself as the Wild Swan. You would do anything to protect your sister. That is why you distanced yourself from Anna because you want to protect her."

Elsa was surprised at the mention of Anna.

"Wait, what? You knew my sister Anna?" she was confused.

"I met her at the party downstairs, she wouldn't stop talking about you. Saying that she doesn't understand why you keep your distance and shut her out. You can't control it, can you?" he guessed again. Elsa went silent for a while before saying,

"Yes. So you knew everything and for your safety's sake, please leave me alone!" she pleaded this time.

"Hey, you would never hurt me. Look!" he placed his hand on hers. Being treated so forward like that made her instinctively tensed but she couldn't move away because his hand captured hers first.

"See? You're all right. You are fine. I know you wouldn't hurt me."

"H.. how could you know that?"

"I don't know. But I have a gut feeling. My mother told me that I should always trust my gut. And my gut is telling me, that we could be good friends." He said and gave her reassuring smile, the one that she finally couldn't help but smile back.

* * *

Elsa closed the book and opened the small drawer not far from her desk. She pulled out a small box. When she opened it she could see a pile of letters. She unfolded one of them and read the handwriting on it. It was quite dusty because she kept it for years. She always goes back to read each letter whenever she needed a little distraction. At least back when she was in her isolation years. It eased her mind. Comforted her in a strange way. Her eyes traced each words on the paper. This one is her favourite. It was written beautifully, especially the last two stanzas.

 _One shade the more, one ray the less_

 _Had half impaired the nameless grace_

 _Which waves in every raven trees_

 _Or softly lightens o'er her face_

 _Where thoughts serenely sweet express,_

 _How pure, how dear their dwelling-place._

 _And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,_

 _So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,_

 _The smiles that win, the tints that glow,_

 _But tell of days in goodness spent,_

 _A mind at peace with all below,_

 _A heart whose love is innocent - Lord Byron_

 _Yours,_

 _HRH Prince Richard Rutherford of Edelwest_

She sighed. At least he was right about his gut. They did indeed became good friends. But after the death of her parents, she stopped responding to his letters. She just couldn't bear to reply the letters. It was a very excruciating moment for her. She hadn't grasped the concept of controlling her powers at that time. She knew she will be a Queen someday she just wasn't expected it to be so soon. So, that burden weighted on her. She couldn't think about anything else other than how to carry out her duty once she ascended the throne. He didn't stop sending letters to her because of that.

She shook her head. It was all excuses. At that time she just didn't know what she should write to him. Telling him about the tragedy of her parents was too devastating for her and she wasn't sure she could do that. Let alone telling him while thinking about it at that time made her sick to her stomach. The grief was just too great.

But even though she didn't reply anything, she still found herself enjoying each story of him. It was a good life for him. He had been through lots of adventures around the world. He went to places she never imagined to visit and could only dream of. Places that she only knew from books. Besides, he's a kind of person who could be so animated when he started telling story. At least at that time his letters was the only distraction she got, the only thing that could ease her mind from everything.


	2. Chapter 2: The Council Concern

CHAPTER 2: The Council's Concern

"So, what are you planning to do for today, Elsa?" Anna asked while stuffing the smørbrød into her mouth.

Elsa smiled and sipped her own fancy tea while glancing at her sister from the newspaper. The sight was the total opposite. Anna didn't really pay much attention to the proper manner while Elsa elegantly did anything perfectly.

"I have a council meeting early this morning. After that I want to look at the preparation for the ball. We have some chocolate to hunt." She winked at her little sister.

Anna ears perked up at the mention of chocolate.

"You mean you have some chocolate to hunt?"

"No. I said 'we', silly. It means you and me are going to _sjokolade husset_ together later this evening. I want to discuss the cake design with Norma."

"Nice! That would be wonderful, Elsa. I want to taste their newest product of chocolate!" Anna said while chewing all at the same time. Elsa frowned in disagreement.

"Anna, please finish your food first then talk." She shook her head in amusement.

Anna burped suddenly. It made Gerda who was just entering the private dining room stifled a laugh. It is not unusual for them to see the Princess behavior is really the total opposite of the Queen.

"Oops! Sorry." She said while covering her mouth.

Elsa shook her head again.

"I'm sure Lady Heather would be very pleased to see you like this if only she's here." Elsa continued. Anna bursted out laughing.

She remembered correctly Lady Heather, their 'bitchy' tutor. She was probably the only tutor that succeeded to annoy both little Anna and Elsa. Lady Heather was a very strict tutor. She always punished her student if they didn't act 'properly'. As kids, both Elsa and Anna didn't really care about it. All they wanted to do was just running around the castle and laughing hysterically as they wished. Their father seemed to run out of ideas about how to teach both of his children to act more 'royally'. Until Lady Heather came to the palace. She was a good friend of the late Queen. Elsa and Anna dislike the old lady so much. Often times, Elsa had to freeze her tutor's tea or made her slipped on ice on purpose. Even then, the tutor still hadn't give up with the two princesses and always found a way to discipline them.

Elsa laughed softly when she remembered her. "Poor Lady Heather, may God rest her soul."

"It's weird, I kind of miss her, you know. Even though, well she was a pain in the ass." Anna continued.

Elsa cleared her throat.

"Anna, language please!" She smiled.

"Now, you turn out to be just like her." The princess laughed. Elsa joined her.

"Now I know why you are her biggest failure." Mocked the Queen.

It is now become a routine for both Elsa and Anna. Ever since the Great Thaw is over, they wanted to spend as many time as possible to be together, to make up for the loss time. Even their bond as siblings started to rebuild again, sometimes both Elsa and Anna still couldn't shake the feeling of uneasiness around them. Yes, they still somewhat stuck in a few awkward situations but both tries to dissipated it.

Elsa knew that her sister still carries the wound deep down inside because of the tragedy that happened last year. Anna may not realise it, but Elsa often bolted awake from her sleep whenever Anna has a nightmare about that day. And she found herself couldn't do anything. She was helpless. How she wished she could just run towards Anna's room and telling her that it was just a dream and everything will be okay. But instead of doing that, she usually stayed in her room blaming herself for that.

Elsa was eyeing her sister with the corner of her cerulean blue eyes. The bubbly princess still clumsily stuffed her mouth with her favourite sandwich. She didn't even notice that Elsa was paying attention to her. That's the one thing Elsa likes about Anna. Even though she knew that there's still something bothering her with the nightmare, Anna never try to bring that up in the next morning. She just behaved normally, like nothing happened and nothing is bothering her. Sometimes Elsa wondered how could Anna acts normal? It's like she never even bothered by it, while in fact Elsa knew the nightmare was always unpleasant.

She snapped back into reality when Kai entered the room. Still in his usual green attire for the day, the master of the Royal Household bowed to Elsa and Anna. Elsa appreciated his gesture with a faint smile. She admires this man for his loyalty towards the castle. He has served Arendelle for many years. Long before she was even born.

"Your Majesty, Your Royal Highness. The council is already assembled, Ma'am." He informed.

Elsa glanced at the grandfather clock in the corner of the room. 09:30 AM. _They're early_ , Elsa thought then nodded at Kai.

"I will be down shortly, Kai. Thank you."

The older man nodded.

"Oh, and Kai, could you please inform Lord Jørgen to meet me in my study after the meeting? I have important matters to discuss with him." She added.

"Very well, Your Majesty."

Elsa got up from her seat and ruffled Anna's hair as messy as she could. She knew it would annoy her little sister.

"You need to stop doing that!" she protested with her mouth full.

"I'll see you in a bit, Cheeky." Elsa pinched Anna's cheek before leaving the room.

"Don't call me that!" shouted Anna when Elsa exited the room.

The older sister couldn't help but chuckle. Oh, how she enjoyed messing with Anna so much. The bubbly princess always get works up so easily. She didn't change much from the little Anna she used to know, always so clumsy, carefree and eccentric as ever. She used to called Anna with a pet name 'Cheeky', because when she was just a child, she has a very round and rosy cheek. It makes Elsa always wants to pinch it. Anna would be very annoy with her whenever she does that.

"Her Majesty, The Queen!" Announced Kai.

Elsa entered the court room. The footmen opened the door for her. The room that was once noisy went silent. Everyone rose from their seats and bowed their head to her respectfully. Once Elsa seated on her seat, she gave them a slight smile. Nodded as a sign for them to be seated. The meeting started right away. It is going to be another long day for Elsa. Lord Jørgen the Prime Minister of Arendelle seated on the chair at Elsa's right side. He led the meeting and a few members of the council one by one reported their own issues.

Most of them reported the routine condition on Arendelle's internal and foreign affairs. Chancellor Haakon Roys the minister of foreign affairs said that they wanted to open an alliance with The Kingdom of Prussia. Elsa disagreed with it. From what she heard, Prussia is in the middle of unification wars. Meanwhile Arendelle is not strong enough to form a military support. Even though it could be beneficial for Arendelle if they form an ally with a big country like Prussia. She didn't think it is the right time for them to offer an alliance with that kingdom, at least not for now. Maybe in the future when the situation of that country is more stable. Lord Jørgen agreed with Elsa.

Soon this led to the issue of Arendelle military system. As the Minister of Defence, Lord Ejvind Vaulkner suggested to form a special force in Arendelle. Their military system is not really strong. Even from the last war that broke out between Arendelle and the Northern Kingdom, they were lucky they got help from their allies. If it weren't because of them maybe Arendelle would banish from existence right now. This got Elsa thinking. Ever since the war is over, why would her father never intended to strengthened their military source? Something crossed her mind. She cracked a small smile. She knew exactly what she would do to strengthened their military system.

"One more thing, Your Majesty, I think it is already time for you to start thinking about finding a suitor." Said Haakon again.

Elsa frowned, clearly not fond of the idea. She found it to be the most ridiculous notion above all nations that they presented today.

"I am sorry, Chancellor Haakon. I do not think my personal life is an issue here. I do not think it relates to the nation." She slightly offended.

"As a matter of fact, it does relates to our nation, Ma'am. It would be good for our political stability and a Queen who's unmarried tend to create a negative image. Surely we do not want that. Besides, it would be beneficial for our kingdom. The marriage will strengthened the relation between the two kingdoms. The kingdom also needs an heir apparent who would succeed you in the future."

The forum started murmuring. Elsa gave it a thought for a minute. She was actually terrified at the idea. She does not think she would ever marry to someone. She wasn't accustomed of being around people. She's still get use to being around the public like now. Let alone marrying someone while being around the crowd in the party still somewhat makes her nervous as hell.

"As we all know, there are a few candidates who's already lining up and tries to court you. I don't think it would be so hard to find one that's right for you." He added. The murmuring was getting intense.

Elsa tried to calm herself down. She was clearly offended. The council feels that marriage is an easy task to fill. It annoyed her. She's a Queen and they talked to her as if they are going to sell her to the next royalty who arrives at their doorstep. She could feel her power started flowing through her veins. She clenched both of her hands together.

Lord Jørgen noticed Elsa's change of behaviour and immediately calm the council down.

"ORDER!" He shouted. His voice echoed through the room. He got everybody's attention.

Elsa gave them her famous icy glare that sent chills to everyone's spine.

"I will tell you what I think, gentlemen!" She started. Her voice was as cold as ice.

"I will not let you lumping my personal life with the state business. I am your Sovereign and yet you talked to me like I'm some commodity to sell! I may be young but I expect more respect from you!" She said in an authoritative voice.

The room fell silent. Everyone lowered their head. No one dared to look at their Queen. One thing that Elsa learnt from being the ruler this past year is that, she has the aura of intimidation towards her subject. Surely everyone is aware of her beauty and grace. But Anna once said to her that she has this charisma that makes everyone would willingly listen to her. It's in the way she speaks or even looks at people. Her inner beauty makes everybody would feel intimidated. That's why it is not hard for her to gain the respect from her privy council once she ascended the throne. Elsa feels grateful for that, because it could come in handy in a situation like this.

"We could still form the political stability in many ways other than marriage. And I will decide when I should be married, to whom I am going to marry and whether or not I'm going to marry at all! Am I making myself clear?"

Everyone bowed their head. Elsa took a deep breath then sighed. Satisfied.

"Thank you. Now, if there are no other matters to discuss, I think it is quite enough for today. The meeting is adjourned." She spoke a little calmer this time. The tension of the room loosened. Elsa turned to Jørgen and spoke to him in a hushed tone, still struggled to maintain her composure.

"I will expect you in my study in an hour. Good day, Lord Jørgen." she said while giving him a small smile. The prime minister nodded and bowed slightly to her. He understood clearly how she felt. Sometimes the councils could be a little harsh.

Once she exited the court room, she stormed off to her study right away. Slammed the door close using her magic. Threw herself in the couch. She let go of her composure and hugged her knees together. Snow started to fell around her. She clearly could not condone what her council just suggested to her. Her life had been dictated long before she ascended the throne and now they still wanted to maintain control over her by forcing her to marry someone. She never thought that she would ever marry to someone. She thought she could finally be free and just be on her own, at least for now.

But before she could truly feel it, they already shoved her into another obstacle. She's still not completely master her powers yet. She's still afraid of hurting people with her own powers. The only reason she could do that for now is because of Anna. Marrying someone would only mean letting them enter her life and the real question is who would want to spend the rest of their life with someone as vile as she is? She's already happy enough with her life. And it all ruined because of some stupid political matters. So, no. she would not let them dictate her life again!

The door of her study creaked open. Gerda came in with a tray that contained a teapot and cups. Placed it at the table. She saw the Queen seem troubled. She looked at the young woman in sympathy. She knew exactly what the girl had been through in her life. She has been through much traumatic events in her life and sometimes it is not fair for her. Gerda heard everything that happened in the court room from her husband Kai and decided to at least comforted her. Elsa turned to see her. There Gerda saw the look of sorrow reflected in those blue eyes. She didn't look at the pair of eyes of the Queen. She saw a vulnerable little Elsa there. Just like what she used to see years ago. It made her heart clenched.

"Oh, my dear child," She glided towards the girl and bended at her side. Stroked her platinum blonde hair softly. Gerda expected her to distance herself because she usually doesn't like to be embraced because of her powers and all. But she didn't do that. It encouraged the older woman to pull the girl into an embrace. She held her close.

"There, there… it's okay, _min kjære_. You will be okay." She cooed.

"What should I do, Gerda? I don't know what to do." She complained in a cracked voice.

"It's not really my place to say. But I know you can do this. It's hard but it's not impossible. This duty takes a lot of sacrifice. At least that's what I learnt from serving your father. He made a lot of sacrifice too."

"He did?"

Gerda nodded.

"It is so unfair." Elsa whined.

It is really rare to see Elsa in such a vulnerable state like this. Sure, when she was in her isolation years, Gerda saw plenty of them. But ever since she became Queen and the whole Great Thaw was over, Elsa grew more mature and always content. She appears poise, calm, regal and composed. Never let anyone think that she's weak. Even when she's troubled she usually never let it show. So, it is so rare to see her like this. The Queen is a child once more.

"Here my dear drink this. It'll help calm you down." She pulled away slowly then poured the tea into the cup. Handed it to Elsa.

The young Queen took a sip.

"Careful. It's hot."

It brought a smile in Elsa's face.

"It's not hot. I made it warm."

Gerda couldn't help but chuckle.

The old woman was right. Elsa felt calmer. She sighed. The snow around them thawed in an instant. The whole thing still troubled her. But Gerda was also right. This duty takes a lot of sacrifice. She can't be reckless and selfish.

"You're right, Gerda. I'm devoting my life to the service of my country and my people. I made my vows and I'm not going to break it. I still don't know what to do but, I'll figure something out." She finally said.

"That's my girl." The older woman smiled in pride and touched her cold cheek.

"Have I ever thanked you properly for what you've done for me and Anna all these years?" Elsa asked while still holding the warm cup with both of her hands.

Gerda smiled once more.

"You don't need to. You and your sister are like daughters of my own. For I could never bear one of my own, you see." It brought cloud to her eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Gerda." Elsa placed her hand in Gerda's. Squeezed it a little to give the older woman a little support. Gerda just shook her head still with a faint smile.

"Don't mention it, my dear. I'm happy here. I have you and Anna. It's enough for me. And should you ever need anything, and I mean anything at all, Elsa. I'm here. Just remember, you are not alone. You are the strongest young woman I've ever met. There's strength in you. You just have to believe it with your heart."

Elsa's smile widened. Her confidence built in. It warmed her heart somehow. Just like her Mama used to do whenever she felt helpless. She always believed in her.

"What would I do without you, Gerda?" She added.

"Let's hope you'll never find out."

The two women from different generation embraced once more before Gerda finally left the room. Elsa still has matters to discuss with Jørgen. She needed time to compose her self. And even though the problem still remains there, she was sure she would find a way to solve it later. At least she would find one that could please both her and the council.


	3. Chapter 3: Mr Chocolatier

Chapter 3 : Mr. Chocolatier

Elsa took a deep breath. She immediately felt relax when she felt the summer breeze blew away a few strains of her braided hair. She'd been inside the castle recently and barely got out. It was just nice to finally see the outside world that are full of life, and not surrounded by a firm strong brick wall of a castle. One of the castle's guard greeted her, she smiled politely as a reply.

"Going out, your Majesty?" Asked Kai. He offered her a friendly smile.

Kai, master of the royal household. He has been with her family ever since two lines of the throne before her. Even after the gates finally closed, he was one of a few people her father trusted to handle the reduced staff and have the knowledge about her power. His wife Gerda, on the other hand is a very strict and firm woman but Elsa knew behind it, she has the biggest heart in the world. She took care of Elsa and Anna ever since they were just babies.

"Yes, Kai. do you happen to know where Anna is? I supposed to go out with her."

"At this hour, she usually in the stables, feeding Oscar."

Just after Kai finished his sentence, Anna appeared in a very cheerful mode or more like the usual over-spirited Anna.

"Elsa?! I'm here!" She exclaimed while ran towards her sister. She was almost trip when she reached the Queen. Lucky her, Elsa was fast enough to held her arm so that she wouldn't landed face first on the ground. Elsa shook her head.

"Have you not gotten your lesson from the last bone you've broke?" Elsa asked. Anna just grinned and ignored that question.

"We are going to see him, right?" Anna's face perked up. Her eyes looking at Elsa's widely. Her sister laughed.

"What makes you all of the sudden be so excited to see him?" Elsa asked between her chuckles.

"Well, I'm just excited to see that my sister finally…"

Elsa shot Anna a look that indicated her to stop talking.

Turning around Anna realised that Kai was still standing there. Looking at the two sisters with amused look. Anna quickly shut her mouth.

Elsa blushed to see that Kai was giving her a look that she was sure it was a 'really? the snow queen go all soft on some guy?' look.

"Oh, hey Kai! I didn't see you! Sorry! ehe!" Anna grinned. Kai turned to Anna.

"To say that I'm hurt is an understatement, Your Highness. I've known you ever since you were a very tiny creature and yet you still couldn't recognise me." he gave her a mock sadness.

"Oh Kai, I'm so sorry! It's just I'm so excited for today! Do you know that Elsa… mmmpphh!"

Elsa clamped her sister's mouth immediately before she burst out any unnecessary details.

"That I planned a surprise for her! That's what she meant." Elsa laughed nervously. Kai raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah, I mean it's going to be a huge surprise! And unusual! because it's very unlikely that Elsa would behave… I mean, would act so weird and the fact that she … um.. okay, I will stop talking now." Anna rumbled again.

Elsa gave her sister a 'really?' look.

"What she's trying to say is that, we're just going out today. That's it!"

Kai couldn't help but laughed. He was amused at how different the two girls he always considers as his own daughters are. Yet in those differences, they have a very great bond and they could be very cohesive like this.

"Alright, alright you two! Gee, even after all these years the two of the castle's trouble makers are still not changed. Girls, you two need to grow up sometimes." He said between his chuckles then continued, "Just take care and go enjoy your day, Majesties." He bowed.

Kai was walking away from them when something suddenly brimmed in Anna's head. She smiled devilishly. She turned to Elsa and whispered something. Elsa raised her eyebrow. When Anna finished, Elsa looked at her little sister.

"No! I'm not going to do that!" She refused.

"Oh, come on Elsa! Just this once, please!"

"It's not nice, Anna!"

"Do you want to go your whole life with that? Oh, come on!"

Elsa was still hesitated. She looked at her sister who gave her a very wide cheshire cat's smile. Finally she sighed. Giving up.

She raised her hand and wave it a little. It immediately formed a palm sized snowball. Elsa handed it to Anna.

"You do it! I'm not going to be responsible if he told Gerda about this." Elsa said. Anna was happily accepted it. She then threw it into Kai's direction. It landed perfectly in the crook of his back head. The older man turned around.

"Hey! What was that for?" He protested.

"We told you to lose the formality, yet you didn't! So, that's your punishment! Ha!" Anna grinned.

Before Kai said something more, Anna practically dragged Elsa out of the courtyard and out the castle gate. They laughed in unison.

As the Queen and the Princess made their way into town, they met and greeted a few people who are not unfamiliar to them. Ever since the Great thaw, Elsa and Anna often goes out to town to see how are the citizens doing. Most of them interacted directly to the monarchs and they quickly looked up to them. It reminded her of what her parents did before her isolation. The late King and Queen often spent time outside the castle and enjoyed being among their subject.

Remembering her parents somehow brought a warmth sensation inside Elsa's heart. She missed them. She just wished that they could be here and see that she finally could control her power, rule the kingdom and everything goes perfectly under her belt. She couldn't resist a sense of pride for herself because what she thought was impossible for her finally happened. She never thought that she could rule a kingdom before. She knew from the very beginning that she eventually would end up becoming a Queen. She just never expected it to happen so fast and in a way she never wanted. At first it seemed like she was forced to took over the throne ready or not for the sake of Arendelle's politic and economic stability.

She thought that after the coronation she would continue her isolation, rule the kingdom from inside the firm brick wall of the castle and of course the closed gates. Never once she imagined would doing something like this with her beloved sister. Never once she thought she would rekindle the sisterly bond she thought was lost long ago. But now here she was, roaming around her town with people looking up to her and surprisingly very happy to accept her despite everything that happened.

"We're here!" Anna was practically squealed. Brought Elsa back to reality.

They were standing in front the shop with a big banner on top of it. _"Sjokolade Huset"._ Elsa's nostril caught a familiar scent. A very great smell. She smiled.

"Do you smell that?" Elsa asked her sister. Anna smelled it too.

"Oh my goodness! Come on!" Anna grabbed Elsa's arm. The two sisters giggled in delight.

They entered the shop. There were a twang sound from the small bell when the door opened and closed. Once again they were greeted by a familiar face. This time, it was Nora the shop owner. Her smile grew bigger when she saw the two monarchs visited her place again.

"Ah! My dearies Elsa and Anna! You finally came!" She exclaimed overly excited. Elsa thought that maybe it was more than Anna's overly excited mode. The woman in her mid sixties waved for Elsa and Anna to come closer. Both sisters moved closer. "You made Andrew wondering whether you are coming or not." She told them then shouted to someone in the kitchen, "I told you lad, they would come! That means I won the bet!".

Elsa couldn't help but chuckled softly to see how comical this woman could be.

"Oh, Nora of course we would come. Why wouldn't we be? Right, Anna?" Elsa poked Anna with her elbow. Anna was practically drooling over a chocolate variation in the display.

"What? Oh yeah! We wouldn't miss a chance to taste your amazing chocolate. It became our weekly routine!"

"Glad to know that. Hey Elsa, let me tell you something. You saved me by coming here." Nora said.

Elsa raised her eyebrow. Not buying what the woman was saying.

"Before you came here and if I recall correctly, it's been almost two weeks since your latest visit. And that lad over there was totally gone mental. He drove me crazy! Thank God that you are finally here. It seems he couldn't get his mind straight if you didn't visit him at least once a week." Her voice was almost a whisper.

Elsa blushed.

Nora couldn't keep her laughter. "Oh my Gosh! You two love birds really needs sometime alone, eh?"

"What? I… Didn't… I mean, we are not… No you got the wrong idea…" Elsa was stammering again.

It didn't go unnoticed by Anna. She grinned and raised her eyebrow to Nora. Smiling devilishly, the two women from different generations seemed to communicate through those cheshire grins.

"Hey, Andrew! Why don't you come over here. It is not nice to shout at people especially the Queen and the Princess! Where is your manners?!" Shouted Nora.

They could hear mumbles from the kitchen. It was clear that Andrew was annoyed. He was finally walked out from the kitchen. Still wearing his apron. There were a few strains of chocolate in his face. It made Elsa giggled.

Anna on the other hand was busy observing Andrew. Even though she already knew him all these times, she just never had a chance to actually looked at him. She was busy with her thought. Well physically, he's not that bad, she thought. Tall, handsome, and charming in general. He is 5'7'' tall while Elsa is 5'4''. So one point that makes the two of them would look perfect together. He has a brunette short hair matched with his lightning grey eyes contrast with Elsa's platinum blond hair and light blue eyes. He has two dimples on either sides of his face which Anna thought looked cute on him. Well, he's physically attractive. There are no reasons not to like him. Anna thought. She just smiled. Happy that Elsa finally started to open up a little bit. She just hoped that it would go well. There was nothing she could do other than setting this up. After this everything would be up to both of them.

"Oh Elsa, I forgot about something!" Anna said while slapping her head.

"What?"

"I made a promise to Kristoff that I would go with him to visit the trolls!"

Elsa made a flat face. She squinted her eyes. Looking at Anna suspiciously. She knew it was part of Anna's plan from the first that she would leave Elsa there. It was too obvious. Before she had a chance to reply it, Andrew appeared distracting her.

"Your Majesty, I've done the cake sample for the ball. Would you do me the honour of being the first person to taste it?" He smiled, revealing both of his dimples. Elsa couldn't help but laughed softly and wholeheartedly at his politeness.

It was weird though. Everyone would've treated her in such high manners like that. She's the Queen after all. But having this man treated her in such way, somewhat made her heart warmer in a way she never expected.

"What did I tell you about the formality, Andrew? You know I hated those. Especially when it comes to someone I consider as a friend. And of course! I would love to taste it! I bet it taste wonderful!"

Andrew smiled again. "Then, why don't you take a seat, I'll be back with the cake. Oh, do you want me to bring you your favourite hot chocolate too? Or do you want to order something else?"

Elsa pursed her lips.

"No. I think I could use some caffeine now. So, coffee, then." She replied.

"Okay, coffee coming right up."

Elsa then chose her favourite spot, which is outside the shop. It is open and also the view outside is quite magnificent. Who would miss the chance to see Arendelle's landscape in the summer?

He was ready to turn around when he almost bumped into Nora. She put her hand on her waist.

"Where do you think you're going?" She asked, raising her eyebrow.

"To get Her Majesty's orders."

"Nuh-uh! You are not going anywhere! Your job now is to accompany her. I'll go get the orders." She said.

Andrew sighed. Even though this is the woman he considers as a mother, sometimes he still couldn't understand when she comes to her twisted mind mode. He tucked his apron neatly in the counter then walked towards Elsa's table.

When he found her, she was looking at the direction of the fjord and Arendelle's landscape. She looked like she was lost in thought. He had to admit it, the way she looked when she was in a deep thought like that gave him some funny feeling inside. He never admired any woman in his life before, but when he first laid his eyes on her portrait, he knew there's something about this woman that made his curiosity kicked in. And the moment she stepped in to his cafe doorstep for the first time, he knew that maybe it could be something more than just admiration that he feels for her.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

His voice brought her back to reality. Elsa was surprise to see Andrew. She didn't realise he was there. She smiled and nodded a little before turning her focus back to the fjord.

She was in deep thought about what is it like to be out there? Out in the open sea. It suddenly made her think about her parents. What horrible thing they had to face out there? A huge storm? Or a great amount of fear that she was familiar with? She just wished they are in peace right now. Somehow hoping that they would see her from up there.

"There is beauty in it. But also a great danger." she said. Remembering what the trolls said to her when she was little. It would always be a constant reminder to her that behind every beautiful things, there will also be dangers in it too. Just like her.

Suddenly that thought brought a cloud in her eyes. It would not go unnoticed by Andrew. He finally grabbed a seat in front of her.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Never mind." Elsa gave him a faint smile.

Slowly, her face was back in her usual expression. As if nothing happened. Her shoulder that was once dropped went straight to emphasised her regal posture.

There she was again. The Snow Queen who he could never understand. One time she could appear to be very vulnerable and in the next minute those darkness disappear just like that. One time she was willing to open up a little bit but then pulled herself away again.

Nora came with a food tray and served her orders.

She made a few more jokes with Elsa. Andrew smiled when he saw her laughed. His heart warmed up by the view in front of him. _She is the real definition of beauty_. He thought. He could go his whole life just adoring her beauty. It was never enough. Somehow deep down inside of him, there was this growing desire towards her that he never thought was possible. Every time he saw those darkness around her, there's always a desire to put that away.

What kind of feeling is that? _You are so screwed, Andrew! Get a hold of yourself fool!_ He cursed himself. No! He couldn't let himself feel this way. Totally inappropriate and of course who the hell was he kidding? She's the Queen for heaven's sake! There are a lot of royals from different kingdoms lining up and try to court her, and all of them were born royalty. He's just a commoner, not even a noble. He's just a famous chocolatier in town. With 'famous' as his title he thought it still wasn't enough.

"Andrew?" Elsa's soft voice rang in his head. The way she said his name made him feel like he got butterflies in his stomach. He cleared his throat and smiled at her.

"Sorry. Just lost in thought. What is it?" he asked back.

"This looks a bit different from what I ordered two weeks ago." she pointed the cake in front of her with her fork. She smiled playfully.

"Ah yes! About that let me explain, okay? So, basically, I was about to make the design that you and I had agreed two weeks ago, but then, I couldn't help but feeling there are some missing parts on the concept. So, I'll do a few sketches. Turned out to be well, Nora said not bad. Since you didn't come last week, I decided to just go with it. What do you think?" he asked then bit his upper lip nervously.

Elsa let out a laugh that sent shivers down his spine.

"Why are you so nervous about it? You're the chocolatier you should make the decision yourself." She was still laughing.

Andrew couldn't help but joined her laugh.

"Well, I mean it was a direct order from the Queen. If I didn't do as you wished, it's the same thing as disobeying you." He scratched his hair that wasn't itchy.

"Oh Andrew, will you stop with the formality already? I came to you as a friend. I wanted your advice as a chocolatier to make the best cake arrangement for the anniversary of my coronation. You are the expert, I'm not going to judge your creativity. It's your creation after all. Two weeks ago I just happened to have a bit of idea about the design. But if you have a different idea about what to add, I don't have a problem with it." She was a bit amused.

"Really?" he raised his eyebrow.

"Really. So, tell me the rest of the concept."

"Okay, so I was thinking since you are the snow Queen I just thought about making something that suit you. Means, I wanted to make the cake as a signature of your personality and your magnificent powers. Since you really wanted chocolate cake so badly, it would be a bit surprise to the guest when they taste it." he took a few deep breath before continuing.

"I made a chocolate cake with a hot melted chocolate inside just like your favourite chocolate cake. But then, I made a few changes on the design and the frosting layer. I changed the design from the usual typical cake, I changed and modelled it just like your ice palace. I added a blue and white frosting in the base which indicates the colour of ice and snow. And it's not just the usual frosting. I added a flavour which is mint. To give the taste of cold but still sweet. As for the finishing, I added a few snowflake candies. What you're about to taste is for tester only. So, to see how well that turns out, we'll see."

After Andrew finished with his whole concept explanation, Elsa blinked three times. Couldn't believe how he could explain those whole thing in an intake of breath. But not because of the way he explain it that made her puzzled. She was touched at how he paid attention to details about her personality. And to be able to design her ice palace it needs a few deep observations to get the precise detail and make a model out of it. Which only means that Andrew had observed her creation quite some time to take out a lot of details.

"Now, I freaked you out, didn't I?" he said while looking at her expression. Elsa shook her head and slapped herself inside. Her jaw was dropped in a so very not 'Queenly' manner without she realised.

"Oh, no no no! You didn't freak me out! God no! I'm just speechless. It's a really brilliant idea, Andrew! I… I don't know what else to say! It's very thoughtful. It requires so much details to make a precise model. Means it would take more of your time to observe it. Are you sure, it wouldn't be too hard?" She still couldn't believe it.

"Oh don't worry about that. I studied it and most likely could recite the details in the back of my mind." it slipped out of his mouth.

His words taken Elsa by surprise.

"Y.. you observed my ice palace and studied the details only in two weeks?" she was still confused.

He cursed himself quietly by being so reckless when he opened his mouth.

"Uh, actually I've been observing your ice palace long before you ordered the cake. Well, observing is not really the right word. Well, I've been visiting your palace for quite sometimes." he revealed.

"Why?" her curiosity kicked in.

He blushed slightly.

"Well, I just couldn't help myself but adoring your beautiful creation, Elsa. It truly is beautiful. It's breathtaking. I know it might sounds creepy, but every time I go to my cabin to hunt, I always spends a few moments to look at your ice palace."

Elsa smiled softly. She was indeed flattered. She took a sip of her coffee. She closed her eyes for a moment when the bitter liquid made contact with her tongue. The smell was quite refreshing.

"How could you even make it in the first place?" he asked again. Still curious about that.

She shrugged.

"I don't know. Sometimes it just happened like that. Well, I mean not just happened of course, it seems that my powers also act out through my desire. I've always love geometry, when I was a kid, I've always wondered what it would be like to build a castle made of ice. At that time it was just some sort wild imagination and I never thought that it could be real." she paused for a few moment.

"But then, when I was finally out of the castle, in the middle of the North Mountain, I was letting my self do what I've always wanted to do with my powers. So that was when I built Olaf and then it struck me that I would like to see what my powers are capable of. I built the staircase at first then when it happened, I realised that I could do more. Until finally I made all of it."

He was looking at her in an awe. This woman really is amazing. He couldn't get enough of seeing her true beauty.

Elsa felt warmth in her cheek growing up when she realised that Andrew was staring at her.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked then cleared her throat nervously.

Andrew shook his head. Cursed himself silently for being so reckless again.

"Uh, you know it's been almost two weeks you've been stuck inside the castle. Pardon my language, but you look like crap. I think you could use some fun."

Elsa raised her eyebrow playfully then took the last sip of her coffee. She didn't know whether it was from her coffee or because she finally got used to the calming environment or maybe from the amazing chocolate that she just digested. All she felt right now was light. As if nothing is pressuring her, although she knew that when she got back inside the castle, she will be buried in a deep paperwork again. But for a while she thought she didn't care.

"Really? And what do you think would define the _fun_?" She teased and added a playful smirk.

"Come on!" He said then gently took her hand. Elsa reacted in surprise. Yet her eyes were still glimmering with all the fun. And for Andrew, it was enough.

They went to Arendelle's main square which not far from Andrew's café. There were a few people enjoying their activities. Kids were playing together. There were street performers performing Arendelle's traditional folk music and also a street artist was busy with his painting. A few Arendellian seemed to be enjoying the performance of the musicians and a few of them danced along with the music. Andrew noticed that Elsa's face brightened up. They watched as the musicians played the song. Giving applause when the music finished.

In the third song they played, Andrew instinctively reached Elsa's hand and pointed her to the group of people who were dancing.

"Shall I have this dance, Your Majesty?" He smiled wholehearted.

Elsa laughed and shook her head.

"Oh no, thank you. But I don't dance." She refused politely.

"Yeah, so much for losing the formality." He mocked then dragged her to the middle of dancing people. He started with a simple move.

"Andrew!" She protested.

A few people in the audience quickly recognised her.

"Hey look! It's the Queen! Queen Elsa, come and dance with us!" They said excitedly.

"See? They are delightful to see their Queen here!" Andrew exclaimed.

"I'm so going to kill you, Andrew!" She threatened him but without missing those playful sparks.

"Go ahead! I'll a be a dead happy man!" He said while puling her closer and spun her around.

They danced with a few people along with the music. Andrew couldn't help but adoring every moves and gestures she made. She was glimmering and her laugh was like music to his ear. He wanted to freeze this moment forever. Seeing her like this, so full of life and joy. It made him wanted nothing more than to see her like this all the time.

They changed partners a few times. It was surprising for him to see how light she could be on her feet, even when she said that she doesn't dance. When she was back in his arms again, he smiled.

"You're pretty light on your feet for someone who claimed she doesn't dance." He mocked her. She rolled her eyes.

"Well, I don't dance! But it doesn't mean I never had any experience with it. At least I attended those ridiculous dance lessons with a very annoying tutor. Besides this is not like one of those formal ball dances, it's pretty easy!" she said then moving around a few steps before accepting Andrew's hand and spun once more.

"I guess, this feels better than get stuck in a bunch of paperwork, right?"

She laughed.

"Let me tell you something, both are not worth compared to."

"Glad to know, because I was planning to do a lot of fun things today. Do you want to join me?" He offered.

She raised her eyebrow, thinking while still moving with him. Well at least she didn't have any important meeting to attend for today. She's done all of her paperwork last night before Anna barged in. So it means, she has plenty of spare time to spend today. She smiled. _Well, why not?_ She asked herself. It's not like such a bad idea to spend sometime with him.

"What do you say?" he asked.

"Well, I'd love to."

His smile grew wider. He spun her one more time then drew her closer as the music entered the last phase. Everyone who was watching the whole performance gave them applauses. She laughed then gave them a thank you curtsy.

"Not bad, Your Majesty." he teased.

"Why thank you, Sir. You are not too bad yourself." She winked. Andrew laughed then grasped her hand pulled her away from the crowd.

They continued walking around the main square. Elsa's attention drawn to a few children who was playing in the side of the square. So young and full of life, she thought. She was stunned when she saw one of the girl was sitting on the bench and was watching her. Somehow that girl reminded her to Anna. The girl with light blonde hair was clutching her doll. She stopped her step. Andrew looked to her.

He didn't get a chance to ask when she finally walked towards that little girl. The other kids surprised when they saw the Queen was approaching them. Elsa smiled to the little girl. The girl smiled back shyly. She was indeed looked like Anna when she was little. She sucked her thumb in her mouth.

"Hello, dear. What's your name?" Elsa asked softly. She adjusted her height so she was face to face with her.

"Sofia." she answered.

"Sofia? That's a beautiful name."

"Do you want to look at my doll? She looks just like you." the little girl was smiling now. She showed her doll. The doll was indeed imitated her appearance. With a platinum blonde hair and a blue dress.

"Does she has a name?" Elsa asked. Sofia nodded.

"I named her after you. Elsa."

Elsa laughed softly. This little girl was very cute and innocent. Reminded her so much to little Anna.

"Well, my dear. I'm very glad to know that."

She always loves kids. Reminded her so much at the time Anna was born. She was so ecstatic to finally having a baby sister. She couldn't wait until Anna get older so they could play together.

"Queen Elsa, is it true that you could do the magic?" Asked one of the children. Every one of them surrounded Elsa.

Elsa looked to Andrew who shrugged and smiled. Assuring it would be fine to spend time with these kids. She adjusted her height again and she was quickly surrounded by the kids.

"Actually I do. Hey, why don't we all build a snowman?" she initiated.

"But it's not winter. How could we build a snowman in the summer?" asked the kid with a red hair. Andrew laughed. He responded this time.

"Well kids, as you know that Queen Elsa here is a snow Queen. So, she could make a snow whenever she wishes."

The kids gasped and was excited. Elsa then waved her hands. She could feel the magic ran through her veins. She formed a palm sized snowball.

"Are you guys ready?"

"Yeah!" They said in unison.

She threw it to the air. It bursted into flurries. Half part of the main square quickly covered in snow. In a matter of minutes she turned the place into a winter wonderland. The kids were cheering up and running around. They made a few snowman. Elsa was surprised to found herself didn't have any problem to show her power. If she recalls correctly, last year she was terrified that everybody would find out about her power. Now, she was delighted that they actually loved it. Even enjoy it. It felt easy and free. Like the way she felt when she was on her journey to the North Mountain last year.

They spent most of their time there. Playing with those kids. Until it was almost dark and they had to finally ended the fun.


	4. Chapter 4: The First Phase

Chapter 4 : The First Phase

A man who wore a cream coloured tunic entered the Tavern. His long hair ruffled from the summer breeze outside. Once inside he glanced around the small place packed with people after a long day of working. His gaze settled on a hooded figure who sat in the corner. He couldn't see the figure's face as it was covered in a black hood. He walked towards that figure.

"You're late!" The hooded figure said once he took a seat.

It was obviously a voice of a man. Deep and a little coarse.

"Well, my life isn't exactly the same. I can't afford anymore privilege, I have to work!"

"I don't care! The time has come for the first phase. Prepare yourself!"

The long haired man smirked. "I'm always prepared."

But before he could say anything else, his collar was grabbed by that figure. Yanking him to look directly into his direction.

"Never underestimate anything, lad! See what happened last time with your own stupidity? The Emperor would not be so forgiving like your brother! He would expect no less from you!"

"Get off me!" he shoved the figure back then brushed off his shirt.

He saw the marking in the back of the figure's left wrist when his sleeve rolled off and exposing his left hand. It was almost looked like a scar. Interesting, he thought. It looked self inflicted because of the precision in the marking. A scar in the form of a snake.

The hooded figure immediately covered his wrist again.

"What about you? What are your missions for this first phase?" He asked.

"None of your business! Just do your part and you'll be rewarded. Don't try to do something funny, I have my eyes on you!"

"Don't worry, I can handle this. The Emperor might not need to launch an attack because I can hand him this precious land myself. Then I'll get my reward!"

* * *

Meanwhile, a few hundred miles from the coast of Arendelle, King Frederic was busy reviewing a few documents in his study. His wife, Queen Arianna sat on the couch with a book on her lap. There was a knock on the door. He granted access immediately.

The royal herald came. He was panting like he just ran a few miles.

"What is it Georg?" The King asked with the edge of concern on his tone.

"This just came in, Your Majesty." the man who wore the blue attire said after he bowed. He gave a letter to the King.

King Frederic turned the letter and found an official royal seal embedded on it. He easily ripped open the letter, and found a neat handwriting inside. His eyes traced every words on the letter. Slowly his expression went hard. He gritted his teeth before slapping the letter on his desk.

Seeing the reaction of her husband, Arianna went to his side. She touched his shoulder gently.

"What is it, my love? Who sent it?"

Frederic sighed, clearly exasperated. "It was an intelligence from one of our spies. Gronada had fallen. The entire royal family had been massacred."

Arianna clamped her mouth in disbelief. "Oh, God! What are you going to do?"

He turned away and faced the big window behind his desk. Looking at the sea landscape that looked so calm at night.

"Georg, I want you to dispatch Lord Urich and Damien to my study, now!" the King ordered.

"Right away, Sire!"

The herald bowed before leaving the study.

"It's bad, isn't it, Frederic?" Arianna voiced her concern.

She had been in a similar situation decades ago when she almost lost Frederic.

"Not if I can help it."

He turned to gave her a reassuring smile before pulled her into his embrace. "Don't worry, I already have a plan."

She closed her eyes. "I just hope it won't turned out like what happened in the North Sea."

"I hope so too, love." he kissed the top of her head.

They parted when there was a knock on the door once more.

"Enter."

Two men bowed to him upon entering the study. Lord Urich and Lord Damien. Two of his most trusted advisors.

"Gentlemen, I'm sorry to dispatch you in such a short notice." Frederic began.

The two of them nodded. "The herald said it's urgent." Urich said.

"It is. I received an intelligence from one of our spies. Gronada had fallen and the government collapsed. It happened again."

"You don't think, they are after us too, do you, Sire?" Damien curled his brows.

"I think, sooner or later they will do something bigger. We have to prevent it."

Frederic knew with the fall of Gronada, it would only be a matter of time before those savages invade his land. He'd be damned if he would let something like that happen. He had been on the throne for thirty years and had learnt his lesson from what happened in the north sea. What he needed now is prevention and precaution.

"You want to initiate an attack?" Urich asked.

The King started to pace around the room. "No, not an attack. We need all the help we can get from the allies. One that will involve my niece." Frederic said.


	5. Chapter 5: Hello, Old Friend

Chapter 5: Hello, old friend.

They need something different this year. Elsa thought. After what happened on her coronation last year, she wanted to do something that could give the people of Arendelle a reason to celebrate. They deserved it. They worked hard everyday for the kingdom and despite everything that happened last year, they are still accepting her. So, Elsa wanted to appreciate that by doing this summer festival. The castle never held any festival before. Especially when the gate was closed. There were a few private celebration, sure. But limited to a few number of dignitaries as her father wouldn't risk exposing her to the outside world out of fear she would reveal her power.

"Oh, you should definitely make some attraction, Elsa!" Anna suggested. Pulling her from her deep thoughts.

She turned to Anna who sat in the couch of her study. "What kind of attraction?"

"You know the ice wonderland! You can built an ice rink so people could do some ice skating, and perhaps an ice slides? It would be super thrilling!"

She paused for a moment, considering her little sister's idea. It was not such a bad idea. Elsa was sure the townspeople and visiting dignitaries will be excited with the attraction. She just needs to make sure all the attraction will be safe so nobody would be harm.

"That could actually work, Anna. What about the parade?"

Lord Randolf Gill, the Lord Chamberlain of the castle showed her a map of Arendelle's capitol city.

"The parade will start from the castle courtyard, Ma'am. We will turn to the west and move in a clockwise direction until we reach the final stop in the main square." he explained.

She nodded while still looking at the map.

"Because you both will be riding in an open carriage, I will be standing behind you with Lieutenant Alstad. Two guards will be riding horses and posted in both sides of the carriage." told Captain Karl Brekken, the one who's in charge of the Queen's protection detail.

"Do you think it's necessary to have that many guards surrounding me and the Princess, Captain?" Elsa frowned.

"We don't want to take any risk, Ma'am. I'm just following the standard operational procedure based on the crown protection service rule."

Elsa pursed her lips. She understood the Captain was just doing his job, but she wanted to be approachable to her people. The point of this festival is to celebrate. With that many guards surrounding her, it would make her seem distant and unapproachable.

"Just make sure once we get to the main square, I don't want to be surrounded by many guards." she stated.

The Captain was ready to argue when she spoke again, " You can stay close with me, but I want to be able to interact with the people, Captain. Besides, the point of doing this festival is for them. I want them to know that I was there with them and they don't have any reason to fear me."

Captain Brekken nodded. Clearly understood his Queen's intention.

After everything is settled, Elsa ended the meeting. She went to her desk to see if there are any documents that needed her signature. Only a couple of them. She could do that later, she thought. Even though there was this tiny voice inside her head that told them not to procrastinate, because they would only increase by tomorrow.

Elsa turned around and surprised to see Anna was still sitting on her couch. Brow furrowed deep in concentration. Her own brow arched.

It was unusual to see her little sister be so quiet and lost in thought like that. She took a seat beside her.

"Anna, what is it?" she asked gently without missing the hint of worry in her voice.

The strawberry blonde hair woman finally looked up to her sister. "Wait, give me a minute! I'm thinking!"

"I can see that, what are you thinking?"

"Why didn't I think about it before!" she exclaimed suddenly.

Elsa could only stare in confusion before she chuckled slightly. "Okay honey, you are really making me confuse."

"Elsa, I was thinking, why don't we make a charity performance at the festival?" Anna's blue eyes that mirrored her own went wide and full of excitement.

It brought a smile on Elsa's face. This is one thing that Elsa likes about Anna, her joyous energy is very contagious.

"I'm listening." the Queen said.

"The kids from the orphanage that we visit a few times, remember them?"

Of course Elsa remembered them. She had only been there a couple of times while Anna seemed to visit more often because of her busy schedule, it was hard for her to find time to visit. But she had been there.

"I noticed that they were very fond of art and quite talented too. I was thinking why not let them perform in the festival and do fundraising to build a better home for the children and support their education?"

That got Elsa thinking. By letting the kids perform at the festival, they actually gave them a place to express their creativity and she knew how kids are full of it. And even though the orphanage get compensation by the kingdom, it was still not enough to cover everything so a fundraising is actually a very good idea.

Elsa smiled and looked at her baby sister. Sometimes, Anna could surprise her like this. She may look reckless, clumsy and awkward but Elsa always knew she has the biggest heart in the world. That's one of the reason she chose Anna to be one of her trusted advisors. She always believed that her sister is very perceptive and have the people's best interest at heart.

"And you said you will never be ready to be a Queen?" Elsa teased.

Anna bursted out laughing. "No, never! Sorry sis, I'm not looking forward to get stuck and buried in a deep paperwork. You can have your job forever."

Elsa joined her laugh.

"Well, it was a brilliant idea, Anna. I think you should talk to Lord Solfeg so he could provide assistance in everything they need."

"Don't worry, I'll be the one to coordinate their performance."

Their conversation suddenly interrupted by a knock on her door. Kai came in with a smile on his face. He bowed before saying,

"Your Majesty, Your Royal Highness, I came here to inform you that the official vessel from Edelwest had just docked in our port a few moments ago, Ma'am. The Prince Richard of Edelwest is coming a bit early than expected."

That instantly brought a smile on Elsa's face.

"Do you want to receive them in the throne room, Ma'am?" he asked again.

"Oh, no need for that, Kai. I will receive him in the east drawing room. Come along, Anna."

In a usual formal setting, she would receive her guests in the Throne Room. But because this particular man is nothing sort of formal, she thought there would be no need for that.

The two sister made their way to the east drawing room.

It has been almost five years since the last time he visited Arendelle. Based on his letters that he sent over the years, he'd served in Edelwest's military and earned a rank of Major. The man loved to travel and has a flare for sailing. Sometimes, reading his letter, Elsa couldn't help but feel a little jealous because he'd been to places that she only knew from books.

Upon entering the east drawing room, Anna nudged her sister.

"Hmm, this is unusual." she commented.

"What?"

"Isn't it customary to received foreign dignitaries in the Throne Room?"

Elsa smirked. "Yes, but this man is not just any foreign dignitary, Anna. He's a friend."

Wait, was she hearing it right? Anna thought. Her sister, the Snow Queen is not someone who would open herself up in a friendship so easily. At least that's what she learned after the eternal winter was over. Elsa lived in isolation for a very long time. When did she have time to make friend? And more importantly, not just any friend, a MAN! And if she remembered correctly this certain Prince was indeed very attractive.

"Have you even met with this man before, Elsa?"

"I have. A few times, as a matter of fact."

Elsa heard her little sister gasped and looked at her in disbelief.

"NO! Do not tell me that there is something going on between you and this Edelwest Prince! You are not in a…. you know… scandalous affair with him, right?"

Just after Anna finished her sentence, Elsa bursted out laughing. The kind of laugh that very rare came out of the usually reserved Queen.

Looking at Anna's curious expression made Elsa couldn't help but kept laughing. She even had to put a hand on her stomach.

The princess could only look at her sister dumbfounded.

"Oh, lord! No, Anna. I can assure you, there's nothing scandalous going on between him and me. Trust me." Elsa said in between her giggles.

"Okay, but who are you and what have you done to my sister? She would never allow people to laugh hysterically like a maniac that I just witnessed."

Elsa laughed again, but more controllable this time. "Oh Anna, my adorable baby sister, your overactive imagination can be unbelievable sometimes."

It was hilarious because she couldn't imagine herself having that 'scandalous affair' with Richard. One because during her isolation years it was impossible, two they hadn't really spend much time together because his visit would usually be a short one. When they did got time to spend time together it was only to talk for a short period of time as they would be interrupted by her father. The only time she got to really get to know him was by his letters.

Their giggles was interrupted with Kai entering the room. Elsa and Anna stood at the same time before the master of the household announced, "His Royal Highness, Prince Richard Rutherford of Edelwest!"

From behind Kai, a tall man with a brown hair entered the room. He held a leash on his right hand. A black and white cocker spaniel puppy walked gracefully beside him. In his left hand he clutched two boxes in a rectangle shape. He stopped once he stood a few feet away from Elsa and Anna. His whiskey brown eyes glimmered with delight. He wore a silver waistcoat combined with a navy blue frock coat and cream coloured trouser. His hair that was once short had grown in medium length, made its natural curls shown. The smile plastered on his face.

Richard bowed to both ladies.

"Prince Richard, welcome to Arendelle! We are delighted that you can come for the anniversary of my coronation. Though, I must say, it's a bit sooner than expected." Elsa instinctively extended her hand.

"Your Majesty, the pleasure is all mine." he reached for her hand before placing a chaste kiss on her knuckle.

"Well, it's been a while since the last time I've been in Arendelle. I wanted to stay here a bit longer to explore your beautiful country. And especially of course I wouldn't miss the opportunity to get to know the magnificent ruler of this kingdom better." he continued but his grin didn't falter.

Elsa chuckled softly at his words but shook her head. He certainly didn't change at all. Still smooth with his infamous flirtatious remark. Come and think about it, Elsa thought. This was actually the first time they met in an official capacity and in front of other people, whereas in the past they usually met either in the library or her father's study and no one knew they actually knew each other.

"I see that you haven't lost the touch of your, what did you call it? Ah, dashing persona." she teased, remembering the one time he told her about his charming quality as a joke.

His eyes sparkled playfully. "I can assure you Your Majesty, I haven't. I must warn you though, to not get swept away with it." he winked.

The Queen gasped and covered her mouth with her hand in a mock disbelief, "Oh no! I have to be extra careful about it, then."

They laughed in unison.

Anna cleared her throat to get their attention because it seemed these two people got a little carried away with nostalgia.

Elsa turned and said, "May I present you, my beloved sister, Princess Anna?"

"Princess. Lovely to finally see you again. You've grown into such a beautiful woman as well." he kissed Anna's hand the way he did with Elsa.

Alright, Anna had to admitted though, this man is definitely something. If she hadn't met Kristoff yet, she might fall for his natural penchant for flattery.

"Why, thank you, Prince Richard. Quite companion you got there." Anna looked at

the cocker spaniel who stood calmly beside the prince.

Richard picked up the puppy. "His name is Rocky. A rather mischievous fella. Aren't you going to greet the Queen and Princess, Rocky?"

As if on cue, the puppy suddenly extended his tiny leg forward towards Elsa. That successfully earned a giggle out of both sisters.

"Aw, hello, Rocky. It's a pleasure to meet you too." Elsa cooed and took his leg as if shaking it.

As a response, the puppy grabbed Elsa's hand with both his paws and snuggled his face before licking it a little.

Elsa laughed and gave him a gentle pet.

"He is adorable! Can I hold him?" Anna asked.

"Sure." Richard handed Rocky to Anna.

"I've always wanted a puppy." Anna said and giggled again when Rocky licked her face. Clearly happy with his new friend.

"Please sit." Elsa motioned towards the seat right behind him.

After the three of them had seated, Richard reached for the two boxes he carried.

"Along the way of my journey this time, I visited a few places, including Switzerland. As I understand, both of you have a certain weakness for chocolate, I brought with me a special gift for two special ladies. One of the finest chocolate in the world. Dark chocolate for you, Your Majesty, and milk chocolate for you Princess." he handed the two boxes to each of them.

Anna was beyond ecstatic. "Oh my goodness! You sir, are really a knight in a shinning armour!" she exclaimed excitedly after receiving her gift.

Richard chuckled before he looked at Elsa. He found her eyes brightened with joy.

"Thank you, it's very thoughtful of you." Elsa said sincerely.

* * *

Nothing could rival Arendelle's garden. Richard thought. He hadn't really spend much time in the garden from his previous visits. But he swore it looked even more beautiful than before. There were a lot of different variation of flowers. The combination of green, red, purple, yellow, and pink, blended so well. What made it even more unique is the set up of each flower. It almost looked like it formed a certain pattern.

He walked into the centre of the garden. There stood a statue. When he closed the distance between him and it, he noticed that it was actually an ice statue that surprisingly didn't melt in the heat of summer. He smirked. Of course! He was in the castle of the Snow Queen. He glanced around and realised the pattern of this garden was actually a snowflake. He couldn't help but adoring the beautiful garden.

Suddenly he heard a rustling sound behind one of the flower shrubs. A slender figure in a purple dress was kneeling and observing the flower in front of her. She seemed to not noticing his presence. But Richard would know the lock of that platinum blonde hair anywhere. A smile on his face widened.

"You know, it's hard to compare one beauty to the other. Especially when one of them is so special and incomparable." he said once he was right behind her.

The owner of the blonde hair was clearly startled. She turned around quickly. A flash of panic landed on her gorgeous face. But it was only for a split second before it was replaced with a relief look.

She clutched her hands in front of her chest.

"Heavens! You startled me. I thought you were an invader." She protested.

Richard extended his hand to help her stand up.

She took his hands and stood up then straightened her dress a little.

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty."

Her face crunched up a little. "You know, I don't see any other reason you keep calling me with my title, other than to annoy me, Rick."

He laughed and glad she finally called him with his nickname.

"I just don't want to be rude and inappropriate, because someone told me that you have a flare for formality." he teased while grinning from ear to ear.

She groaned and rolled her eyes, "quite the opposite, really. Unless we're in the formal court session, just call me Elsa, and yes, that's an order!"

"Well, Elsa. Your wish is my command. And may I offer you my company for your little endeavour in the garden?" he offered his arm to her.

She gave him her slight mischievous smile and put her hand through his arm.

"I don't mind the company."

They walked around the garden while Elsa occasionally glanced at a certain flowers to inspect it.

"This garden is even more beautiful than it was before. The layout is so precise and I just realised that it formed a snowflakes pattern. I'm guessing this is all your doing?" he asked.

"You guessed right. I always loved flowers. My mother introduced me to botany even before Anna was born. She gave me this book about different kinds of flowers. Most of which I never even saw before. During my isolation I always wondered what is it like to be in a garden with all of those beautiful flowers."

She paused suddenly. Richard could see the cloud on her face. He knew very well about her isolation. Even had been there a few times. He was pretty familiar with the emotion she felt.

"And here you are now." he smiled reassuring her. Hoping he could cast that gloom away.

She let out a self deprecating laugh. "I wish I'd knew the key to controlling my power sooner. Because the answer was simple and stared right at me all these times." she shook her head. "Pathetic, isn't it?"

He stopped his step, turned and faced her. He frowned when she refused to look at him. His jaw tightened. He hated to see her like this. How could such a beautiful, kind and big hearted being like her bear so much pain and tragedy? She shouldn't have felt that way. She should be happy, she deserved to be happy. All these time, during their friendship, he always tries to make her see who she really is and how beautiful she really is, but it seemed she was too damaged to see that.

"Yeah. It's pathetic if you let yourself see it that way. But I always believed everything happens for a reason. We can't change the past, Elsa. All we can do is learn from it. Because trust me when I say, there's no better teacher than that."

This time, she looked at him straight in the eyes. Those striking cerulean blue irises penetrated his own deeply. Made his breath hitched in his throat. Her lips then arched into a perfect smile. She put her cold hand gently on his cheek.

"You have no idea, how good it is to see you again, old friend."

"I take that as a compliment, but not the 'old' part." he joked.

Her soft laugh filled his hearing and he never thought he had ever heard a more beautiful sound than that.


	6. Chapter 6: A Day in the North Mountain

**A/N: I do not own Frozen, only the OCs in the story. As English is not my first language, I'm sorry if you find any grammar mistake.**

* * *

Chapter 6: A day in the North Mountain

Elsa was reading a report from the ministry of military and defense. It contained every detail of the newest navy vessel that was under development, the specification and naval artillery on board the ship as well as the strength of the ship itself. They were about to do a resistance test in the next few days. This might be the best warship Arendelle ever had. The ship itself is protected with an ironclad. A material that was fairly new developed to replace the vulnerability of wooden steam. This new material makes it possible to mount a 64-pounder gun.

She first learned about the material when she had a light conversation with the delegations from the kingdom of Elsberg, who came for a short visit just a few months after the great thaw. From that conversation, Elsa realized Arendelle's navy is going to need this warship. Admiral Harald Magnus, the head of Arendellian Navy was delighted with her input and immediately put together a team and resources needed to build that warship. Now, three months after the initial planning, the warship is almost a hundred percent ready.

A knock on her study pulled Elsa back from her deep thought. She granted the person to enter.

Richard appeared in his morning attire. He wore a teal blue waistcoat with golden flowers embroidery combined with a black claw-hammer coat, caramel colored breeches and riding boots. Upon entering the study, he smiled at her.

"You wanted to see me, Your Majesty? I was riding a little, sorry if I'm late." he asked.

The Queen smiled back at him "its quite alright." she motioned him to sit across from her. "As I understand you served in Edelwesternian army right?"

Richard nodded then took a seat in front of her. "Yes, I served with the 3rd battalion of the Royal Edelwesternian Regiment."

"And what exactly is your capacity in the regiment?"

"As an army major, I lead a company of 150 men. Sending smaller troops to do certain missions. Because the 3rd RER is a light infantry battalion, we operate on a restrictive terrain and mostly provide tactical strategy."

"Then you my friend are the perfect person who could help me." Elsa's eyes brightened as she leaned back on her seat, closed hand resting on her left cheek while the index finger pointing upwards.

Richard smiled at the determination on her face.

"Anything for the Snow Queen. I'll try my best. May I ask how can I help?"

She pointed to the thick book in front of them. "Do you know what that book is?"

The brown haired prince shook his head.

"It's a detail history of the battle of the North Sea. Certainly, you must be familiar with it." Elsa said then she moved to open the book.

When Richard nodded again, she continued, "it contained all military strategy detail that was used in that battle, every tiny bit of it. I was reading it the other day and it got me thinking, Arendelle has never been huge in a military resources unlike Edelwest. My father had been trying to make improvement and he did, on the defensive side ever since we won. I want to make another improvement but more on the offensive side. The idea just came to me after I read that book and I realised the battle of the North Sea could actually be prevented with a very simple strategy."

Intrigued with her ideas, Richard listened intently.

"I want to create an elite special forces that could operate on any environment, both sea and land. It will consist on a small number of highly trained soldiers. I am thinking about 5-8 men and women. Their purpose is to find weakness and inflict as many damage as possible into the enemy line without them knowing. Stealth is their number one priority. Not only that, they have to be able to do other covert mission like hostage rescue, reconnaissance, and undercover operation. They may not be in the front lines, but their role is vital to bring down the enemy."

To say he was surprised was an understatement. He was impressed by everything that just came out of her mouth. He always knew how smart Elsa really is but he never thought that she could have such a broad knowledge and understanding about military strategy while she has never even been to a war. And he doubted she had any training at all because of her seclusion. But her idea was just brilliant! She was right about everything. If only there were a special force like what she just said, the war between the Kingdom of Vroton and the Northern Territories decades ago could be prevented, because Vroton would lose before the battle even begin.

"Now you're thinking that this is some crazy wild ideas that is impossible to implement." Elsa said looking at Richard flabbergasted expression.

"What? No!" He frowned after he regained his composure. "This is actually a very brilliant idea, Elsa! I'm just amazed that you could come up with a revolutionary strategy to strengthen Arendelle's military force, because no other nation had ever done it before, really. This is such a groundbreaking idea!"

Elsa rubbed the back of her neck. Still somewhat unconvinced. "You think so?"

"I know so! But I'm not sure about the part where you need me for."

"Well, I was hoping that you could help me design the military training for this unit because I've never been to a battle before, you must've had experience during your service in the military. Beside, I want the training to be different from the normal military training to get enlisted. Like I said, this is a highly specialised team, they have to be highly skilled especially in the stealthy area."

Richard was actually flattered that she trusted him enough to ask for his help when she could ask any other person who are much more capable than him.

"Elsa, it would be my honour to help you in any way I can. And you're lucky though, because one of my personal guards who came here with me is actually one of the best strategist Edelwest has, I'm sure he could provide his input about it."

"You don't mind, do you? I mean, it's not exactly an easy thing to do. Are you sure I'm not burdening you, Rick?" The Queen tilted her head a little.

"No, nonsense. Arendelle has been Edelwest's closest allies for decades, we practically lived in the same land only separated by borders, and you're my friend, of course I would gladly help."

She instinctively reached for his hand that was rested at her desk. "Thank you, it means a lot to me. I'll introduce you to our minister of military and defence tomorrow."

Her blue eyes were even brighter than before. It made his stomach turned and he felt like he could just get lost in those gorgeous pair of orbs.

* * *

After finishing a few documents that needed to be signed, Elsa went down to the courtyard. She couldn't join Anna, Kristoff, and Rick for lunch because she had a short meeting with Lord Jørgen regarding his upcoming visit to the kingdom of Thorbone. After the meeting Elsa went back to her study to finish a few documents. But even then, she knew the paperwork would still be there and possibly going to increase by tomorrow.

She found Anna, Kristoff, Richard, Olaf, and Sven already gathered in the courtyard. Kristoff was feeding Sven with carrots, while Anna chatted animatedly with Richard and Olaf. It seemed the Prince already been introduced to the cheerful walking talking snowman. They were planning to go to the North Mountain to visit her ice palace. Elsa hadn't been back there ever since what happened a year ago. Maybe today is actually a perfect time to do that. She wanted to see what Marshmallow was up too. Last she heard from Olaf, the giant golem had lost his leg because of the battle.

Elsa smiled when she approached everyone.

"You're late!" Anna exclaimed without missing a hint of playfulness in her tone.

The Queen merely smirked. "No no, a Queen would never be late. All of you are just early." She waved her fore finger at her sister.

Anna stuck her tongue out. "That's not fair."

"Well, I am the Queen, and I do what I wish, deal with that." Elsa ruffled Anna's hair.

That earned a chuckle out of Kristoff and Sven.

"Are you going to ride with us in the sled? Richard said he wanted to ride his own horse." Olaf said.

"You know what, I think I'm going with Frosty." She turned to Kai who happened to walked pass the group, "Oh, Kai, could you please bring Frosty, here?"

The master of the Royal Household bowed to Elsa slightly, "of course, Your Majesty."

"Frosty? Don't tell me he's a horse made of snow like this guy?" Richard asked, amused while he pointed at Olaf.

Elsa raised her eyebrow at him. "No! He's a real horse. I named him Frosty because he's as white as a snow and he's mine so that's only fitting. And I remembered someone promised me a race." Her smirk grew wider.

Richard frowned, trying to remember something. "Ah, right! I don't expect you to remember, though. It was so long ago."

"Wait, what did we miss? What is this race?" Anna asked.

"Well, we corresponded a lot through letters during my isolation years, and he promised me that once I gained control over my powers, he would challenge me on a horse race. I think it was when you got your first horse, right?" Elsa turned to him.

"Yeah. It was initially just me bragging that I finally got my own horse."

Ah, so they had been exchanging letters for a very long time, Anna thought. That's why they seemed to be very close and that explains why her sister who usually reserved towards other men could be so comfortable around him. Now she's thrilled to see how this friendship would go for the two of them. One thing for sure, Anna wanted Elsa to be happy because she deserves it. All these times, she always looked out for her. Always been the big sister who would gladly do anything for her. Even sacrificing her freedom and happiness to protect her. So, Anna was glad that Elsa had someone who was there for her during those difficult times.

The group departed as soon as Frosty was brought to the courtyard. Richard was a bit surprised when Elsa didn't ride in sidesaddle but astride, because a few ladies that he met prefer to ride sidesaddle because it was somewhat customary. And for someone who's always able to do every single thing gracefully like Elsa, it was surprising that she chose to ride astride rather than aside.

"Don't look so surprised. I never liked riding sidesaddle. It is acutely uncomfortable. Well, at least when I'm not in a formal ceremony." She said as if she could read his mind.

Before he could react, she already sped up with the white horse, stealing a head start. He let out chuckle then raced forward to keep up with her. When he managed to trot with the same pace as she was, he teased, "you don't think I would go easy on you, right?"

"Well then, how lucky I am because I can do this."

With a flick of her hand, a few snowballs appeared out of nowhere hitting him in multiple directions, slowing his control over the speed of his horse. She went ahead of him with a very satisfying laugh and brilliantly bright smile. It made his lips involuntarily arched into a full grin. For him, it was the most beautiful sight he has ever seen. He wished he could see her like this all the time, so carefree and full of joy. The moment her laugh erupted he felt his heart had stopped beating. He never heard that kind of laugh came out of her before. During her isolation years, if he managed to make her laugh, a slight giggle was what he usually got. Not like this. _God! How could a person looked so beautiful in everything she does?_ Richard wondered.

He couldn't bat his eyes off of her ever since she walked in to the courtyard. He realized she changed her dress from the casual magenta one that she wore this morning to a stunning sparkly crystal blue off-the-shoulder dress. He noticed that it was actually made of ice. It fit her perfectly. She looked stunning with her hair in a loose braid that was swept over her left shoulder like that. He shook his head because he thought he's going to go crazy if he kept looking at her like some sort of a creep.

After they raced for a while, Richard finally declaring his defeats to the Snow Queen much to Elsa's delight. It took a while to reach the peak of the North Mountain. Richard couldn't imagine what happened when Elsa had to go up there alone, in the middle of the night. It must be terrifying for her that particular day.

His train of thought interrupted suddenly when they took a turn behind a large cliff where there stood a breathtaking majestic shiny building with a staircase that led to the entrance. His blinked a few times as if his eyes had deceived him. His mouth went agape. Was he seeing this right?

"Wow!" his eyes went wide while looking up to the tall building.

"Yup, that was exactly my reaction when I first came here." Kristoff said, while he helped Anna out of the sled.

"You built all of this?" he asked Elsa still couldn't believe everything he just witnessed.

The Queen only smiled before dismounted her horse and pet Frosty softly with her cold hand. The white horse nuzzled closer.

Richard let out a whistle and dismounted his own horse before he touched the staircase. It made out of solid ice that surprisingly soft and flawless. He started to climb the stairs towards the entrance. He noticed there was wreckage in the middle of the staircase. Like someone had been in a fight. He quickly guessed it was the evidence of what happened a year ago. He stopped right in front of the entrance door, pushed it opened. It made a slight creaking sound before a two feet tall giant creature greeted him.

He jumped backwards and instinctively pulled out his swords. The giant golem looked down on him and his eyes went red with rage.

"GO AWAY!" he cried out before spitting a small blizzard right on the prince's face.

"Whoa, whoa, easy there big guy! It's only me!" Elsa immediately ran up the stairs and stepped in front of Richard. She waved her hands to get the golem's attention.

The giant creature tilted his head slightly and his expression changed drastically before a smile appeared on his face. The ice spike on his back shrunk just like that.

"Elsa!" he grunted cheerfully.

"What?" Richard was dazzled by what was in front of him.

"Hello, Marshmallow. It's good to see you again." Elsa said smiling up at him.

The giant scooped her slender body easily with his enormous hands and brought her closer to his face as if asking for a hug.

The snow Queen giggled and stroked his face gently.

"Well Marshmallow, he's my friend. His name is Richard. Will you be good to him?" she asked while pointing at him.

Marshmallow looked down to Richard once again before he nodded.

Kristoff and Anna followed close. The ice harvester gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder. "Don't worry, he just looked scary but he's a softy, really."

Marshmallow put Elsa back to the ground before he let the group entered the palace.

Richard didn't know what else to think. This was way beyond what he was expecting. Inside the palace, everything also looked flawless and glassy. His mind wondered at the question how could one person create this huge majestic place by herself? Mind blowing!

"Olaf where are your other brothers?" Anna asked.

"They probably wandered off the castle." The cheerful snowmen said.

"Other brothers?" Richard asked.

"The snowgies."

Just after Anna finished her sentence, four tiny snowmen bounced up and down. Mischievous smiles plastered on their faces. Funnily enough all of them are armless and consists in four balls of snow.

"Here they are!" Anna exclaimed before she picked one of them. The snowgie smiled widely at Anna before he let out a squeaky sound. "You must be Sludge."

Amused, Richard approached Elsa.

"Okay, I have to admit, this is beyond what I expected. What's the story behind those tiny snowmen?" he said.

"Well, it was quite unexpected for me too."

"Why?"

"Because I didn't intend to create them. They just appeared."

Frowned in confusion, Richard shook his head a little. "How?"

The platinum blonde hair blushed slightly.

Kristoff and Anna laughed in unison, "because they were created out of Elsa's sneeze."

"What?" He chuckled.

"The story that I told you this morning, when Elsa caught a nasty cold, well, back then whenever she sneezes she conjured up these tiny adorable rambunctious cuties."

Richard doubled up in laughter when he tried to imagine it.

Elsa pursed her lips in embarrassment. "Oh, shut up!" she hit Richard's chest with the back of her hand playfully.

"You know what, Elsa, you never ceased to amazed me!"

The Queen didn't say anything but a smile was still apparent in her gorgeous face. They proceed to climb up the curving staircase that led to the heart of the palace. Once again, Richard was surprised to see ice spikes were protruding from the walls and he noticed the walls and floors were changing colors from blue to a shade of purple. He turned to see Elsa was frowning a little when she saw the room too.

She waved her hands and just like that the ice spikes dissolved easily without a trace. The colors changed back into a blue one.

The prince now understands that this room acted like a mood ring that changes color depends on Elsa's state of emotion. Fascinating.

At the center of the room there was a broken ice chandelier scattered on the floor, another evidence of the battle that happened in this very room a year ago.

"What really happened here?" He asked. He noticed how her jaw tightened slightly while her lips pressed together.

"The Duke of Weaseltown's men chased me here when I wanted to be left alone, I tried to fight them and I was pissed off because it was clear that they wanted to kill me. I had no choice than to defend myself, somehow the tables turned, I ended up threatened both of those scoundrels. I pinned the first one on the wall right there with ice spikes," she pointed at the walls where she pinned the duke's man.

"And pushed the other one towards the edge of the balcony with ice block." Elsa pointed the balcony where the ice block was still remained there.

"Then Prince Hans came yelling and told me not to be the monster they fear I was. I stopped, but one of the duke's men raised his crossbow at me behind my back, Hans deflected it but aimed towards the chandelier, the next thing I knew I was running as fast as I could before it crashed on me, I passed out. When I woke up I was already in the dungeon."

Somehow he felt his own rage started to boiling up. How dare those people just threw her in the dungeon while she had done nothing wrong! "They couldn't do that! You didn't do anything wrong, right?"

She smiled bitterly, "well apparently, at that time they thought I was a monster. They see how dangerous I could be if I let myself be one. They couldn't be blame either."

Elsa repaired the broken ice chandelier using her power and hang it back to where it supposed to be. She also dissolved the ice block in the balcony and repaired the broken door. After a while, all traces of what happened here was gone. Like it never even happened. The walls changing colours to purple again. A sign that something still bothering the creator of this place.

The bright aura that surrounded her on their way up to the North Mountain faded away. It didn't go unnoticed by Anna. She saw her sister's eyes went gloomy at the memory of what happened. Her eyebrows slanted.

"I need a fresh air." the Queen said somberly before leaving the group.

Before Richard could say a word, Elsa had already disappeared down the staircase. Anna stopped him.

"Let her be. She just needs a moment. I'll go check on her in a little bit." the strawberry blonde assured him.

The cerulean blue eyes Queen took a deep breath once she was outside the palace. She walked towards the nearest cliff edge that offered a good view towards Arendelle. From the castle it was quite impossible to get a view like this. But here, she could see everything and how small the kingdom looked from afar. It was funny how distance could really make everything seem small. Almost like a painting. The mountain breeze blew away a few strands of her braided hair.

It has been a year since it happened. Yet, Elsa still couldn't shake the feeling of shame and despair whenever she was reminded of the tragedy. It was over and her life had been different. She got her sister back, but the thought of losing her because of her own failure still haunted her in her sleep. She did lost her sister for a few seconds before she thawed because of Anna's action. She didn't exactly do anything. She was helpless and useless! It was all Anna's doing that finally made her understand the key of controlling her power. Ironically, the answer was there, right in front of her. But she was too foolishly blind to see it.

Snow started to surround her as her own self loathing grew inside.

"Elsa?" Anna's voice was heard.

"I just need a moment, Anna. Get back to the palace. I'll join you and the other later." Elsa said

"I don't think so, sister." Anna refused in a sassy tone. She successfully grabbed her sister's attention because the Queen turned to face her with one of her eyebrows raised.

"I'm not going to let you succumbed back to loneliness, Elsa. I'm here! I'm not going to let fear overcome you again." the feisty Princess said firmly.

Elsa's eyes softened but the sadness was still painted clearly. "You don't understand, Anna."

"Oh, come on! I was there the whole time. You did what you thought was right. You didn't caused any significant damage! You fixed everything! It's all different now, Elsa! Stop feeling bad about what happened in the past. You said it yourself, the past is in the past!" Anna insisted.

The older sibling scoffed. "That was actually a very foolish statement. I didn't caused any significant damage? Maybe, but that didn't changed the fact that I killed you, right?" she snapped but contented enough to control her power.

"You didn't kill me! I am alive, I am standing right here, Elsa! When will you realised that? I'm not dead!" Anna was practically yelling now.

"You did!" Elsa shouted.

Both sisters went quiet. Their breaths raged.

"You died, Anna. For a few seconds. And I know you're suffering from the nightmares too. I heard everything. Yet, I couldn't do anything. It's not my power that I hate, Anna. It's myself that I hate. Because I still couldn't do anything for you!" Elsa's voice cracked.

Tears started to accumulate on Anna's eyes. Elsa had to turn away because she couldn't see that. It would only makes it worse.

How could she say that? Anna thought. Her heart shattered because her sister still couldn't see that she had done everything in her power to protect her. She sacrificed her freedom and happiness and she still couldn't see that! It was painful for Anna to see her sister still tormented by something that was beyond her control.

Anna wanted to say something but nothing came out of her mouth. Yes, she's still having nightmare about that day. But it wasn't because Elsa had killed her, but the moment Hans swung his swords towards her sister. In the nightmare, she saw herself couldn't get to Elsa fast enough and all she saw in the dream was her sister lying on the frozen fjords motionless and covered in blood. Tears started to blur her field of focus.

She rubbed her eyes when she heard something swooshing through the air followed by her sister sudden agonising cry. The kind of sound that sent chills through her body. When her vision was cleared. Her eyes went wide.

Elsa fell to her knees with an arrow bolt embedded on her right upper arm. A crimson red liquid ran along the translucent powder blue sleeves of her dress.

"Elsa!"

Anna instinctively started to move to her sister only to be stopped by a pair of strong arms holding her back and she felt a sharp edge of a dagger in her neck. That alone enough to made her tensed and stopped moving all together.


	7. Chapter 7: The Unfinished Business

**A/N: Fair Warning: This chapter may contained some violence.**

* * *

Chapter 7: The Unfinished Business

The moment Elsa felt something jabbing her arms she looked at it. An arrow had embedded in her right arm followed by a piercing sharp pain that shot through all nerves ending of her affected limb. She collapsed to her knees and could feel a crimson liquid trickled down covering the snow on around her in a shade of bright red. She heard a cry and later realised it was her own.

"Elsa!" She heard Anna called out.

The Queen looked up and panic surrounded her when she saw a large man came behind Anna and grabbed her easily. He held up a dagger so close to her little sister's pulse point.

The pain in her arm doubled over to a point she had to clenched her teeth. But her focus now was to Anna. She'll be damn if she would let that man hurt her sister.

"Who… who are you? What do you want?" she shouted.

From behind the cliff where they arrived to the ice palace, another man appeared. Elsa couldn't recognise his face because he got a pretty thick facial hair. He held a crossbow in his hands. It was clear that figure was the one who shot Elsa.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Sorry, did I just interrupted another family drama, here?" the figure said. He moved closer until he was in sight.

That voice! Elsa felt anger burning through her from inside. That auburn hair and emerald green eyes. Suddenly his appearance made her sick to the stomach.

"What the hell are you doing here, Hans?" Elsa hissed dangerously through her clenched teeth.

"Oh, Elsa. Glad you still remember me. You see, because of you, I was stripped off of my tittle and being casted away from my home! My brothers disowned me! I came back to get what was mine!" the former Prince laughed devilishly.

"What was yours? You never owned anything in this land Hans! Not a thing!"

Elsa tried to shot a blast of ice towards him, but missed because when she did that, the pain in her arms only worsened. She cried out again but tried to focus on him.

"Uh-uh, I wouldn't do that! Or your precious little sister will be done in a matter of second!" he threatened.

Elsa heard Anna cries and saw the man who held a dagger on her sister's throat sliced it a little to get a blood ran down.

"No! Please! Just tell me what do you want, Hans! But please let Anna go!" she pleaded.

Hans walked towards the platinum blonde and crouched down to levelled himself with her. He tilted her chin forward roughly and looked at her cerulean blue orbs coldly. "You know, Elsa. You could've been my wife if only you didn't have those freak power. My initial plan was to come Arendelle and court you. You're beautiful and every man who isn't blind can see that. But since you turned out to be a freak witch, no one is going anywhere with you. It's sad really. I wanted to forgive you, give you mercy and a second chance to bow to me, but you took everything in my life from me and now, I'm going to kill you and your naive sister!"

He stood up and pulled out his long swords.

"No! You bastard!" Anna cursed.

The man who was holding her, struggled a little when the princess squirmed in his hold. Anna bit down his strong arm that was tightening around her neck as hard as she could. It resulted a painful groan to emit from his throat. In an instant his hold on her loosened and the younger woman quickly kicked her feet towards the man's groin until she heard him screamed in pain.

Anna tried to back away from him, but the bulky figure recovered quickly and swung the dagger in his hand towards her. Her eyes went wide as she tried to dodge it. Before the blade could even connected to her skin, she saw a blast hitting him right in the face. The man knocked back and dropped unconscious. She turned around and saw Elsa had stood up and extended her unaffected hand to shot a blast of ice towards that man.

Hans who witnessed everything immediately realised how the tables turned quickly and without a second thought swung his own swords towards the young Queen, aiming for her head.

Elsa froze in her place. She saw a vile look on Hans's face and it was full of hatred.

"NO!" Anna let out a horror scream. She ran towards her sister, hoping she could save her again this time. She wasn't going to lose Elsa again, not when she just got her back.

BANG!

A deafening sound of gun shot echoed through the chilly air of the North Mountain. What followed next was a sickening cry of the auburn haired man.

Elsa felt a spatter of warm red liquid covering her face. The sword on Hans's hand flew away and she could see a hole through his right hand after it was crushed by something fast penetrating through and through.

Hans backed away and crumpled to the ground. Curled up while clutching his hand. He let out a miserable whimper.

Anna turned to the source of that sound and saw Richard held a revolver in his hand while still pointing towards where Hans stood before. He ran towards the Queen with worried written all over his face. Kristoff followed not far behind.

Richard was fast enough to catch Elsa who collapsed to her knees with her left hand grasping the wounded arm. Her pale shoulder shook and trembled while her breath came out in a shallow rasps. The shaft of the bow still embedded on her right arm. Blood kept trickling down fortunately not fast enough to cause a massive bleeding.

"Oh God! This is bad. We need to get you back to the castle." he muttered.

Anna felt like she was going to get sick looking at the wound in Elsa's arm. "Can you do something about it? We can't just leave the arrow like that!" panic was evident in the Princess's voice.

"No, we can't just pull it out, she'll bleed out if we do that, it will also caused more extensive damage. All we need to do is immobilised the arm as best as we could so it would prevent movement. That way the arrow won't caused anymore damage."

In a swift motion, Richard took off his coat, "Kristoff do you have a scissor or something like that?"

"Yes, I have one in the sled. Wait here." the ice harvester ran back to where he parked his sled.

"And a rope to tie these two bastards!" Anna called out then turned to Richard, "Okay, so now what?"

"I'll make an arm sling. Elsa, listen to me, I'm gonna make a sling to immobilised your arm. Then we'll get you to the doctor soon, okay?"

The platinum blonde grunted and nodded weakly.

"First there's something I have to do." Richard stood up and went to the former prince who was still writhing in agony.

Anger was still sheathed deep in the pit of the Edelwesternian Prince's stomach. This is the man who ruined the life of his best friend an attempted to took away her life. He looked down at Hans, disgusted by the sight of him. How could someone be so evil and vile towards a person who has the biggest heart in the world? Richard had been in a battle long enough to know that a person is not born an evil, but what this man had done, made it possible for him to think the opposite. He raised his revolver once again, now aiming at his head.

"Richard, no!" Elsa's voice stopped him from squeezing the trigger.

"He's more valuable to us alive, than dead." she continued in a strained voice. Clearly struggled with her own pain.

What was that even mean? He wondered. He couldn't see how this man could be valuable. He's a disgrace to a royalty. He should be beheaded for all he knew and banished from the earth. He was just going to cause havoc and other bad things.

Richard gritted his teeth before he kicked his boots towards the crumpled figure on the ground. Satisfied when he earned a groan out of him.

"Consider yourself lucky, the Queen still has mercy. If it is up to me, you'd be dead by now!" he hissed before hitting him in the back of his head knocking him out.

Kristoff came back with what they needed. He took a great pleasure of tying Hans and his men as he was still not getting his own vengeance towards him last year.

Richard cut down the material of his coat and made a sling. Years of military service had taught him to do a lot of things in the field. Lots of his comrades had been hit by a lot more severe weapons, most of them were fatal. He considered Elsa to be fortunate that the arrow pierced her arm and not other parts of her body. A hit to the limbs have greater chance of survival and healing than in other integral body parts.

As he scrambled to make the sling his thought drifted into the dark place that was lurking in the corner of his mind. The sound of the mountain breeze suddenly felt distant, replaced by a sound of gun blast heard in every directions of the field. His senses altered into a different state. He could smell the combination of sweat and metallic iron of blood. He remembered how rustic it was. He could feel his hands trembled when he made contact with the crimson red liquid, it was warm, fresh and wet.

"Rick…" that soft voice filled his hearing and immediately snapped him back.

He looked up to see her eyes were filled with pain but also a hint of worry. He shook his head then continued to wrapped her arm in a sling gently.

Elsa gasped and let out a strangled moan.

"I'm sorry, it's going to hurt a little. I'm almost done."

Richard still somewhat a bit worry about transporting her back to the castle. Even though he managed to immobilised her arms, with the ride on the sled there's still going to be bumps in the road. Especially mountain road wouldn't be easy. He was afraid that the jostles throughout their way back would make the arrow move inside and possibly penetrating deeper than it supposed to. A walk back also wasn't an option given Elsa's weak condition.

"I think we have another problem." he voiced his concern. Explaining as best as he could.

"Well, we can drive slower." Kristoff suggested.

"No, the sooner we get to the doctor, the better. Because if we leave the arrow in for a long period of time, she may get infected." Richard argued.

"Then what are we going to do?" Anna was getting antsy because she couldn't find the best solution.

"I can do this." Elsa said weakly. Putting her unaffected hand on the wound.

"Whoa whoa whoa, what are you doing?"

She didn't answer the question. The blue light emitted from her palm. A faint creaking sound was heard. The Queen whimpered slightly while her face frowned in concentration.

"Elsa, what did you do?" Anna asked.

After a while she let out an exhale. "I froze the wound. That way the arrow won't pierced even deeper."

* * *

Freezing the wound was actually a great idea. It would put the arrow intact without giving it a chance to move deeper within the flesh. The group had managed to went as fast as they could. Kristoff manoeuvred Sven and it turned out the reindeer actually had a pretty good stamina. Elsa started to drifted into sleep due to the blood loss. Richard and Anna kept pushing her to open her eyes. Richard knew how bad it could be if she lost consciousness. He just wished he could do something more to ease her pain because it was obvious that she suffered from a lot of pain. He had been there too and it was one hell of a recovery month.

It was nearly sundown when they reached the castle. Seeing how fast the reindeer was coming from the direction of the mountain made the guards of the castle alerted in an instant and immediately inspect what was wrong. One of them called out the master of the household.

Sven stopped right at the entrance of the castle while Richard carried Elsa gently out of the sled and into the castle.

"Elsa!" Gerda was shocked upon seeing an arrow protruding from the Queen's arm.

"Queen Elsa is injured. She and the Princess had been attacked by these two scoundrels. We need to get her to the doctor, now!" Richard said frantically.

"Guards, throw these two to the dungeon! I want a maximum level of patrols on their cells!" ordered Anna.

"But make sure they got medical attention too." she continued. Her voice was betraying her anger. She wanted to make those two suffer for what they did to her sister, but she trusted Elsa would have a more fair judgement for their fate.

Upon entering the infirmary, Richard laid the Queen in the one of bed. Doctor Eivind the royal physician who has been with the royal family almost his entire medical career immediately prepared everything.

Anna stayed close to her sister but Richard immediately pulled her away.

"I want to stay with her." she insisted.

"Listen, I understand you want to be here for your sister, but it's not going to be pretty Anna. It's for your own good. You should wait outside with Kristoff and Olaf, alright?" he said gently.

"But…"

"I'll stay with her. I won't go anywhere."

The Princess started fidgeting and biting her nails. Contemplating whether she should stay or not.

"The Prince is right, Your Highness. You should wait outside. I'll do the best I can." doctor Eivind suggested.

"Come on, Anna." Kristoff guided the strawberry blonde outside the infirmary.

After Anna left the room, doctor Eivind grabbed a pair of scissor to cut the material of Elsa's sleeves. The woman herself looked exhausted but was still alert enough to understand her surrounding.

"Your Majesty, I'm going to look at the wound to see the extend of the injury, okay?" he said gently.

Elsa nodded "do what you must, doctor." she rasped.

The fifty year old man unwrapped the sling on her arm and was impressed at the attempt. He knew the arrow would cause a lot of damage if it hadn't been immobilised. He was even more surprised when he saw the wound had stopped bleeding altogether. He saw a little frost covered the shaft of the bow and immediately understand the Queen had froze the wound. Quite unusual but effective to stop the bleeding as Elsa was never affected by the cold it self. Doctor Eivind knew this from years serving with the Arendellian royal family. He was one of a few people who knew about the unique ability of the former Princess and heir of the kingdom as it was his job to know this kind of stuff. Sworn by his blood of course.

"Uh, Your Majesty, I need you to unfreeze the wound, so I could examine it better." he said.

With a wave of her unaffected hand, the frost thawed effortlessly.

The doctor needed to know if the arrow lodged in the bone. That means he need to twirl the arrow a little. He went to the drawer of his desk and pulled out a bottle of brown liquid. He poured the content to the empty glass in the desk and brought it to the Queen.

"You're going to need this." he gave it to Elsa.

"What is this?"

"Whiskey."

Richard frowned. "Can't you just give her sedatives, doctor?"

"Unfortunately, the Queen is allergic to chloroform. I have to warn you, Your Majesty, it's going to hurt a lot." he stressed his statement.

Elsa drowned the alcohol down her throat. It gave her a burning sensation inside. "I can take it. Just do it!" her jaw tightened.

"You might want to hold her, Your Highness. This is going to be very painful."

Richard nodded then moved to her left side. He took her left hand and held it firmly, letting her know she could hold onto him. He could see how exhausted she looked. Her ivory skin was paler than it was this morning. Her eyes started to drop before she snapped it open in shock. Her grip on his hand tightened. Her whole body was tensed. She cried out in pain and Richard saw the doctor had twist the arrow a little.

Doctor Eivind let out a growl that indicated it was bad.

"What, what happened?" Richard asked.

"It seemed to me, the arrow head was lodge in the bone."

"Then, can't you pull it out?"

"I can, but I need to make a larger incision and it requires a greater force to pull out the head. Without anaesthetic it's going to be torturous. If not removed, there's a risk of infection."

 _Dear God!_ Richard thought.

"Do it!" Elsa encouraged. Cold sweat was covering her face.

"Are you sure, Elsa?"

"Yes, just do it."

Doctor Eivind handed another glass of whiskey to her.

Elsa accepted without question. She was so tired. She wanted it to be over fast.

The brown haired Prince grasped her hand again. "Hey, Elsa, listen to me. You just hold on to me alright? Hold my hand as hard as you want. It's okay, I'm here, I'm not going anywhere."

He got a weak nod from her. When he saw the doctor reached for a scalpel, he moved closer to his best friend, pulled her closer to his chest while turning her head away from the sight. The moment the sharp surgical instrument made contact with her already painful wound, she grasped his hand hard. Eyes clenched shut while she let out an agonising scream. Richard could feel her cold tears soaked through his shirt. He hissed slightly when he felt the cold of her hands became a little too cold for him but he wasn't going to let that bother him.

"Make it stop! It hurts!" she sobbed. Her body started shaking due to the overwhelming pain.

The royal physician tried not to pay attention to her pleading. The faster he could pulled the arrow out, the faster he could make this all over. He had a fair share of treating a wounded soldiers in the past, but it still didn't make it any easier. Especially when it happened to someone as kind hearted as the Queen. It was torturous for him too.

"I'm so sorry, Elsa. I know it hurts, just hold on for a moment, okay? It'll be over soon, I promise." Richard whispered. He held her tighter.

Ice started to grow around the room. Both men noticed the sudden drop of temperature around them.

"I can't! Please Richard it hurts!" she pleaded between her sobs.

Oh, how he wished he could do something to make the pain go away. It killed him to see her like this. He wanted to make the bastard who put her in this state pay for what he did. He wanted to put a bullet through his head! But he couldn't do it because Elsa had told him not to and he had to respect that. She's the Queen after all and he was just a foreign dignitary who didn't have the authority to do that. He ran out of ideas on how to comfort her. He didn't know what to say to her because everything that came out of his mouth would be useless. All he could do was just hold her tight silently praying it would be over soon.

From outside the infirmary, Anna was pacing. Her heart leapt out of her chest every time she heard her sister's painful scream. Her tears wouldn't stop coming. Kristoff and Gerda was there to ease her mind but nothing seemed to help at all.

"What did they do to her?!" she cried.

"I'm sure the doctor knows what he is doing, Anna. Come here _min kjære._ " the older woman pulled the Princess into her embrace.

Anna broke down in Gerda's arms. Letting out everything she had been feeling this past few hours. She made a promise to herself that once Elsa recovered from all of this ordeal, she would never let her sister blame herself anymore. She made it her personal mission to help Elsa find her own happiness.

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 **Any reviews would be very appreciated. :)**


	8. Chapter 8: Contingency Plan

Chapter 8: Contingency Plan

Elsa opened her eyes and greeted by a blurriness for a few seconds. Blinking her lids a few times until clarity filled her field of vision. The ceiling was different. There wasn't any snowflakes pattern or a soft purple wallpaper. The ceiling and the walls around her are all white. Then it dawned to her, she wasn't in her room. She turned to her left side and found Richard was sleeping soundly with his head buried between his arms. He was still wearing the clothes he wore yesterday. A reddish brown stain was covering his white sleeves in a few spots. His curly brown hair was slightly disheveled. A tiny burst of warmth spread within her belly. It was somewhat comforting.

She felt a movement from her left side and noticed the prince had stirred up. He lifted his head and squinted his eyes before he met her gaze. Those sleepy lids suddenly popped wide open.

"Elsa? You're awake!" he blinked a few times as if making sure what was in front of him was real.

"Yes." Elsa cringed when she felt a raspiness on her throat. Clearing her throat and realised how dry it was.

"Here, drink this." Richard reached the glass of water in the bedside table and held it to her helping her to sip the clear liquid.

The platinum blonde sighed in relief once the water lubricated her throat.

"What happened?" she asked after he helped her settle back in her pillow.

"Well, the doctor managed to pull out the bow, you passed out from exhaustion right after the arrow was out. Doctor Eivind applied an antiseptic in the hope of preventing infection that is commonly found with penetrating wound. How are you feeling though?"

She gave him a small smirk "like I just got hit by a crossbow."

Richard chuckled, "well. I'm glad you didn't lose your wit because of it."

"Did you stay here all night, Rick?"

"Yeah, I couldn't just leave you here alone, after everything that happened."

"You didn't have to. You look exhausted."

"Well, last night wasn't exactly a great night for me. I am sorry you had to go through all that."

"Yeah, but at least I know that getting hit by an arrow is really suck! And I never want to go through all that again."

"I've been there, a few times actually. It was one hell of a recovery month."

Elsa tilted her head a little bit. "Really? You've been shot with an arrow before?"

"Arrow, bullets, slashed with a long sword. The bullet that I got from the last battle, still lodged inside my thigh."

Her eyes went wide. "You're joking! Can't you get infected by that?"

He shook his head. "No. I thought so too at first. But the doctor said, bullet is fairly more stable. The edges are not sharp like an arrow head. It was relatively safe."

"Why didn't they remove it?"

"They believed it would caused more damage if they cut me open, because the location of it was close to the nerve."

The memory of the event yesterday clouded the Queen's mind. "What happened with Hans and his accomplice?" she frowned.

"Anna threw them into the dungeon, they got medical attention too even though I think they don't deserve it. Oh, and the doctor had to amputated Hans's right hand. The damage was too extensive. Now, that is what I think he deserves!"

"Hmm,"

Elsa had to admit she was relieved that at least Hans got what he deserved. But something about what happened yesterday was bothering her a lot. It gives her a very bad feeling. She didn't know what, but she sure as hell going to find out.

She dropped her gaze towards his best friend's hand. A redness was apparent in his palm like it was just being burnt. She let out a gasp. "Oh God, I hurt you, didn't I, Rick?"

"What?" he looked down at the direction of her gaze. He noticed the redness of his hand was still there. He cursed himself internally. She wasn't supposed to see this.

"No, no, no! You didn't hurt me. It's nothing, really." he reassured her.

"Nothing? Are you mental? Rick you got a frost nip! Did the doctor take a look at that?"

"Yeah he did. Hey, hey, it's nothing, okay. It doesn't even hurt anymore. Here…" he reached for her cold hand.

Elsa instinctively flinched by the contact because she didn't want to make it worse for him, but she moved too late and he already caught her hands first. After the initial contact, she felt the warmth of his palm surrounded her own.

"It's warm now. You didn't hurt me, you were in a lot of pain which was understandable, and I'm fine."

She exhaled and nodded even though she still felt bad about it. "I'm still very sorry though."

"Don't be sorry, it wasn't your fault."

Her train of thought suddenly went to her little sister. She remembered the worry and panic look of her baby sister's face the moment the arrow landed on her arm. She felt guilty to put Anna in that situation again. It must've been very terrifying for her. Suddenly her heart skipped a beat once the thought of it hit her. She turned to Richard.

"Oh, dear. Did Anna hear everything that happened last night?" she asked.

Her best friend grimaced. "I think she did. I told her to wait in her room but it seemed to me she wasn't willing to leave you here. I managed to get her to wait outside though, but I think she heard everything."

Elsa closed her eyes. Why did it feel like she couldn't do anything to make her sister feel better? All she ever did was putting Anna either in a dangerous situation or constantly make her sad.

"Where is she?"

"I think she's still asleep, she must be exhausted too."

Right after he finished his sentence, they heard a little commotion outside the infirmary. Both of them looked in the direction of the entrance and saw the usually bubbly Princess barged in. She was already in her morning attire which consisted with a soft green wrist length blouse, black bodice with a gold trim, and a brown skirt. Her hair was in her usually braided pigtails.

She ran towards he older sister with worry written all over her face.

"Elsa!" she exclaimed once she arrived at Elsa's right side. She stood beside Richard.

The prince smiled knowingly and backed away to give the two sisters some moment.

"Are you okay?" Anna croaked out.

The Queen gave her sister a genuine smile. "I'm fine now, Anna. It's so good to see you again." she touched the princess's cheek.

Anna sighed in relief. It felt so good to know that her sister is alive and fine even smiling like now. It almost unbelievable to see Elsa's pale face had a little shade of pink as a sign that she's actually recovering fine as opposed to her drained state yesterday. The memory of her sister's scream still haunted her until now. She couldn't imagine what she had to endure. It sounded so painful. The Princess lowered her head as all of those emotions overwhelmed her. Her turquoise blue eyes started to moist. Her shoulder shook slightly and a quiet sob escaped her lips.

Elsa was surprised to see Anna's sudden emotional outburst. Her heart clenched the moment she caught a glimpse of tears beaming in her sister's eyes.

"Anna, hey, why are you crying?" she lifted her baby sister's chin to look at her better. It broke her heart to see the tears had streaming down Anna's face.

That question obviously triggered a more responsive reaction as Anna's sobs intensified. It made Elsa straightened up her position from lying down on the bed into a sitting position. Her wounded arm was immobilised in another sling to prevent movement, but it didn't hurt as much as it was.

"Anna?" she called again.

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I'm sorry…" the younger woman said between her sobs.

"What are you sorry for, sweetheart?" Elsa asked softly. She could feel her own tears welled up.

"I… I didn't know that you still blaming yourself about what happened last year. I'm sorry because I never told you about the nightmare. If I had told you, you wouldn't feel bad about everything, and yesterday wouldn't have happened." she sniffled.

"Oh, Anna no. It wasn't your fault."

Anna was still crying a little longer. She seemed to be lost for words. All Elsa could do was just pulling her into an embrace. Trying her best to comfort Anna. Even though she knew she didn't help much.

After a while, Anna finally calmed enough to pull away from Elsa's embrace. She sniffled a couple of times before rubbing her watery eyes.

"Now listen to me, Elsa. You were wrong about the nightmare."

The Queen didn't say anything and prompted her sister to continue. After everything she went through, Elsa was willing to do anything as long as it pleased her sister.

"In the nightmare all I saw was that I couldn't get to you fast enough and Hans managed to swung a blow at your head. It was never about you freezing my heart. I was so scared that yesterday the dream was going to come true. If it wasn't because of Richard… maybe… maybe… I thought I was really going to lose you!" she trailed off and broke down again.

Elsa's heart broke. She didn't know that her sister felt that way.

"Oh, Anna, I'm so sorry that you feel that way. But hey, I'm here now. I'm not going anywhere. I'm here, sweetie." she held her again, rubbing her back softly to reassure her.

Anna took a breath after a while more. After she got a hold of herself, she continued. "Okay, now listen to me, again. You told me that you feel that you still couldn't do anything for me?"

Elsa nodded.

"Well, there's something you can do for me, now. I'm sure you can do it."

"Anything, Anna. I will do anything for you." the older sibling said sincerely.

"I want you to stop blaming yourself about what happened a year ago."

Elsa was about to open her mouth to voiced her argument, when Anna held up her hand.

"Let me finish."

The Queen went silent.

"All you ever did for me was always in an effort of trying to protect me. You saved my life yesterday Elsa. I would not be here if you didn't knocked Hans's accomplice with your ice blast. You sacrificed your freedom and went into your isolation years in an attempt to protect me. You shouldn't blame yourself anymore. I won't let you feel that way again, because you know what?"

Elsa tilted her head in question.

"Because I love you! And I don't care that you accidentally killed me because I know you didn't do it on purpose. I want you to accept the past as a part of yourself because we can't changed it Elsa. I know there's always a silver lining in everything because I always believed everything happened for a reason, even the bad ones. So, please do it for me?"

Elsa felt her heart was going to burst out in any second upon hearing everything that came out of Anna's mouth. She felt very lucky to have a sister like her. Even till this day, Anna is still managed to amaze her. She's always admires Anna's optimism and her ability to be able to see the good behind every bad things. It was so good to know that someone loved her for who she really is after years of believing that she isn't worthy of that feeling.

She honestly couldn't say anything else. Her own eyes had filled with happy tears. So she just did what her instinct told her to do, pulling her sister in another embrace.

"I will try. I love you too, Anna. You have no idea how much that words means to me." Elsa whispered.

* * *

Down at the dungeon, Hans was still screaming with anger as he lost his right hand. He would not just sit here and rot. He is going to get what he always wanted. Now more than ever he really wanted that witch dead. He hoped on their way back from the North Mountain she would lose a lot of blood and it would be victory for him. He hadn't heard a single thing about her condition. But it seemed he successfully managed to gain a new enemy. That prince of Edelwest. He had met her when he visited his kingdom. He hadn't predicted that he would be there with Elsa and Anna. Now that man ruined everything he had been planning! He has to kill him too. What was his name again? Richard! That's what Elsa called him. Well, he has to die, because of him he lost his hand.

"You are a failure, Hans!" said someone outside his cell.

That voice! The auburn haired man moved closer to the entrance of his cell. There stood the hooded figure that he met before he launched his plan.

"I AM NOT A FAILURE! If Darius wasn't stupid enough to let Anna get away, I would've beheaded the Queen!" he insisted.

That figure moved closer and grabbed the collar of his torn shirt, pressing him towards the cell bar roughly. "You still failed the mission! I told you to never underestimate everything! You are useless and stupid!"

Hans hissed. "I want him killed! The prince of Edelwest!" he screamed.

The cloaked figure released him from his grasp.

"You can kill him yourself for all I care!"

"You're going to get me out me, right?!"

Hans could feel the other man was smirking behind his hood.

"No. Because I have a contingency plan. I expected you to fail Hans, because I know you are stupid! This is exactly what I wanted you to do, fail!"

"What do you mean?" The hooded figure laid out all the details of the contingency plan. A smile grew on his handsome face. Oh yeah, this one he is confident he could do. It's going to be the best plan he'd ever be a part of. A very brilliant idea. And that ice witch wouldn't even know what was going on right under her nose!

* * *

Elsa had requested to move into her own room. She wasn't comfortable being in the infirmary for too long. Something about the aura there was just too tensed and white it almost frightening for her. Doctor Eivind had checked on her every few hours to make sure she didn't develop any sign of infection. He said at least for the next twenty four hours he would constantly monitor her condition.

Anna on the other hand was surprisingly wiling to help her doing a little bit of her duty, even though Elsa told her it wasn't necessary. Anna only said that she could handle sitting on a council meeting for a few hours. She argued that it's not like she was going to make any official state business decision that are Elsa's prerogative. She was sure she could handle it. Elsa however doubted it. Sitting still on a few hours long of boring meeting wasn't really Anna's forte. The Queen knows this because she had invited Anna to a few council meetings and almost every time she attended the meeting, the princess would either fall asleep or finally excused herself from the chamber. But today Anna kept to her words, and stayed in the council meetings.

Gerda had told Elsa how the princess was doing in the meetings. In the evening after the meeting, Anna knocked on Elsa's door.

"Come on in, Anna. It's open." Elsa said. Silently still felt good every time she said that to her sister after years telling her to go away.

The strawberry blonde entered her sister's room and immediately threw herself on Elsa's left side of the bed. Her face was clearly not amused.

"Remind me again, why I never wanted to be a Queen." she stated in a dramatic sigh.

Elsa smirked. "Well, from what Gerda told me, you did pretty well, even though you annoyed chancellor Haakon to no end."

Anna narrowed her eyes at her older sibling. "Really? You used Gerda to spy on me now? That's just outrageous, Elsa!" she said in a mock annoyance.

The platinum blonde chuckled. "Now, tell me, how was it?"

"Obviously the councils still divided into two opposing groups. The first one favoured the notion that you should pick on a husband soon. The other group is more of the neutral one."

Elsa groaned and covered her face with a pillow. "this is ghastly!" she mumbled.

"Chancellor Haakon was not happy when I told him that, if you ever gonna marry someone, it should be on your own term."

"Well, unfortunately he was right on so many levels. I can't be selfish, it's for the good of the kingdom as well."

"I still don't like it though." Anna pouted. "But you know what, who knows, maybe someone managed to catch your eyes in the upcoming ball of your coronation anniversary."

"Maybe."

Another knock on the door, caught both sisters's attentions. Gerda came in.

"Your Majesty, Your Highness. You have a visitor, ma'am. Mister Andrew Lockhart had requested to see you."

Elsa looked at Anna who shrugged while the grin on her face was evident.

"Send him in, Gerda." Elsa granted.

"Yes, ma'am."

Anna was ready to leave the room when Elsa said, "I think it would be better, if you stay here."

"Uh, why?"

Elsa gave her a 'really?' look before she rolled her eyes. "Because it is not appropriate for a Queen to have a man in her private chamber. Not just any Queen, a single one especially."

Anna threw her head back and laughed hard especially when she caught her sister was blushing. "Alright, for you I'll stay."

Not long after that, Andrew came in to her room. Elsa had leaned back in the headboard of her bed. The man himself was wearing a turquoise vest with a white long sleeved underneath, combined with a cream coloured trouser and brown boots.

"Your Majesty, Your Highness. I… I heard about what happened and I thought I pay you a visit." he bowed slightly.

"Oh, come on now, Andrew! How many times do we have to tell you to lose the formality!" Anna protested.

She earned a chuckle out of him.

"How are you feeling, Elsa?" he turned his focus to the Queen. For him she looked paler than usual but still beautiful nonetheless.

"Like what I said to my best friend, I feel like I just got hit by an arrow." Elsa joked.

He smirked. "I'm sorry about that. It must be very painful."

"It was, but I feel much better now."

"You know, I know exactly what should make you feel even better." he beamed before revealing the box behind his back.

Anna eyes widened because she could guess immediately the content of that box.

"Is that what I think it is?" Elsa eyed him suspiciously.

"Yup. It's a new varian of chocolate that I invented myself."

"Thank you. You're very kind. Anyway, I wanted to ask you about the progress of the cake."

The conversation shifted into the preparation for the coronation anniversary. Andrew told Anna about the cake design that he was working on, and the princess was completely in awe about his brilliant ideas. She could imagine that the ball will be extraordinary and with the upcoming summer festival too, it's going to be the best summer she would have in her entire life!


	9. Chapter 9: Down at the Dungeon

Chapter 9: Down at the Dungeon

Elsa woke up this morning with a smile upon greeted with a familiar sight in front of her. A tangle of strawberry blonde hair that was sticking out of place and that particular snore. She smirked. This sight of it never ceased to amuse her ever since she was a little girl. She never understood why but her sister seemed to always manage to appear like this every morning. But she has no problem with it. What matters most to her was the fact that her sister is sleeping soundly, peacefully and safe.

During her isolation years, Elsa longed to be in a close proximity with Anna. She was literally counting the day when they could reunite and able to be there for her sister again. That day seemed to never come until it brought her to the event of last year. It was funny how some tragedy could actually brought a lot of positive outcomes. Anna was right, maybe this is one of the silver linings behind everything that happened to them.

"Pst! Anna, wake up." she called out softly.

The princess let out a long snore before her mouth made what looked like a chewing noises.

"huh?" she mumbled. Her eyes fluttered open.

The older siblings giggled. "good morning, sleepy head."

"what time is it?" Anna stretched dramatically before unconsciously wiping the trail of drool on the side of her face.

"six thirty. come on, I got to get ready. Or are you prefer to missed breakfast? I was told they're going to serve smørbrød this morning." Elsa got up and went to her wardrobe to pick her attire for the day.

"Wait, shouldn't you be resting? Doctor Eivind said you still have to stay in bed for a few days." Anna sat up on Elsa's bed while yawning hard.

"Well, it's been two days I was confined in my bed, I feel much better. Besides, we have the summer festival to prepare, Anna. There are still a lot of things that needed my attention." Elsa picked a dark blue dress with a matched jacket before disappeared behind the dressing screen.

Anna still felt like Elsa needed more rest because her wound hadn't heal all the way. Her thought was confirmed when she heard tiny groan behind the dressing screen.

"Are you okay in there? You want me to help with that?" she offered.

It took a few moments for Elsa to answer when she let out a defeated sigh and said, "Yeah, could you help me with this zipper?"

Anna immediately went to help. She saw Elsa was struggling with the zipper in the back of her dress. Somehow she was impressed that her sister managed to put on a dress by herself while her right arm was still wrapped in a bandage.

"You know you should just stay in bed. You haven't fully recovered, Elsa."

"Well, I didn't developed any fever which is good and most of my job wouldn't require me to use my right hand, and my dominant hand is intact so there's no reason not to do my job."

Anna helped her slip the affected arm into the blue jacket sleeve. She was still not convinced because if she'd learn everything about Elsa ever since she became Queen, is that her workaholic tendency could be a little bit over the top. But again she was talking to the woman whose stubbornness could rival her own and knew better not to argue.

After Elsa was fully dressed, Anna helped her with her hair. "You want me to braid it or what?" she offered.

The platinum blonde shook her head, "just pull it up into a bun, will you?"

Anna hummed her affirmation before she started to brush her sister's hair. It brought smile to her lips. She always loved to brush Elsa's hair. It was velvety almost felt like touching a silk, if looked close enough she could even see a dusty sparkle on it, so pretty and magical. Then again everything about her sister was always magical.

"You know, you have the most beautiful hair I've ever seen, Elsa. It looks really pretty when you braid it. Why do you like to pull it up in a bun so much?" Anna asked while she wrapped it in a neat bun.

Elsa looked at Anna through the mirror, smiled softly. "Thank you, as a Queen I'm expected to put on a decent appearance because people looks up to me and it's one way to gain respect from not only the people but also the staff and the councils."

The nineteen years old princess's brow furrowed. "So you think they won't respect you, if you let you hair down and dress as you like?"

"No no, I didn't say that. What I meant is, when in a formal situation I have to appear professional. If I don't, how could people take me seriously?"

"I see." Anna said but her brow stay furrowed.

"But I do let my hair down in a braid occasionally, two days ago I even wore my ice dress."

"Yes, but at that time, you were going to spent time with us."

"Exactly." Elsa smiled again when realisation slowly written all over Anna's face.

"There, all done." Anna looked to the mirror, checking her work.

A warmth sensation appeared in the pit of Elsa's stomach when she saw herself in the mirror. The way Anna did her hair reminded her of a certain someone who used to do it a lot during her childhood times. "For someone who is infamous for her clumsiness, you surely does know how to do this pretty good." Elsa teased.

"Well, I learnt from the best." Anna shrugged before her expression turned gloomy.

"I miss her too, Anna." The Queen reached Anna's hand that was rested in her right shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. She smiled looking at her little sister in the mirror.

"They would be proud of what you've achieved in the past year."

Elsa scoffed, "oh I don't know Anna, I don't think they could condone anything that happened a year ago."

Anna merely rolled her eyes, "well, duh! I wasn't proud of what I did that day too! What I meant is since you become Queen. You've done an exceptional job, Elsa, and I'm also proud of you." she gave her sister a wide smile.

Elsa's sincere smile turned into a brilliant playful grin. "Well, that being said, then there's no reason for me to stay in bed. Because I want to be the exceptional ruler that you just described. I for one, hate to see my sister disappointed."

Anna's mouth went agape. She could not believed that her sister just rubbed her own words in her face! She cursed herself mentally.

"I can't believe you turned my words against me!" the strawberry blonde protested.

Her older sister laughed before turning back and embraced her. " I love you too, baby sister. Now, go get ready, I'll meet you in the dining room."

* * *

After a hearty breakfast, Elsa went to her study and found a report she was waiting for. Upon settling on her desk, she started to read the report. It was actually a background information about one of the prisoner that occupied one of the cell in the castle's dungeon. Her gaze trailed each letters written on the paper. Her brows furrowed in concentration while her teeth clenched.

She had ordered this report two days ago in the hope of shedding some new light and possibly released her from the bad feelings that kept buggering. But everything that was written in this report didn't ease her mind at all. The accomplice that helped Hans to kill her and Anna again was just another pawn. He wasn't even a career criminal. The report stated his name was Damien. He worked at the local tavern and known as the most compulsive gambler in town who couldn't pay his own debt. Hans must've paid him to do the job.

Elsa put down the letter. Her brain tried to make sense of the whole thing that happened a few days ago. It just felt rushed and sloppy. If Hans's plan were merely to seek revenge, there are other ways to do that. This whole scenario was too stupid for her. Given what he did a year ago, Elsa knew how manipulative and smart he could be. He wasn't the type of person who would play dirty. He was meticulous. A grip on her stomach tightened. She sensed there's something bigger going on behind this initial plan. Couldn't bear the uneasiness anymore, Elsa stormed off the room and walked towards the only place she had in mind.

Richard was sparring with his captain of guard in the courtyard when he saw the Queen stepped down the grand staircase. He caught the trail of ice behind her and was alerted in an instant.

"You know what, Earl, I think that's quite enough for today." he said to his captain.

"It's always a pleasure sparring with you, Your Highness." the captain bowed.

The prince merely smiled and nodded before he hurriedly jogged to catch up with his best friend. Weird, he thought. What on earth made Elsa so upset? The last time he saw her at breakfast she was fine.

"Your Majesty!" he called out.

The platinum blonde stopped her step and turned. "Yes?" her face was dead serious. He had never seen this expression before. There was a hint of frustration on her angelic face.

"Where are you going?" he stopped right beside her. "To the dungeon." she started to walk again.

"May I ask why?" he matched her footsteps.

"I don't know what it is, I just have this bad feelings about Hans. The whole thing that he did a few days was too sloppy for me. I felt like there might be something bigger behind it."

"Like what?"

Elsa groaned, "I don't know, Rick! But I'm sure as hell going to find out!"

They stepped down to a spiralling staircase that led them to the entrance of the dungeon. Upon seeing the Queen with an evidently furious expression on her face, the guards stood straighter and bowed to her.

"Your Majesty, Your Highness." one of the guards greeted them.

"Where are the prisoners?" Elsa asked. Her voiced was as cold as ice.

"Right this way, Ma'am."

The guard led them to the darkest cell in the dungeon. He opened the door to the cell and Elsa wasted no time to step in. Richard followed close.

"Leave us!" ordered the Queen.

Without any words, the guard left. Richard on the other hand never had any intention of leaving her alone with the bastard.

The former prince was sitting on the floor while his right hand was wrapped in a pretty thick bandage. He looked severely bruised and dirtier than a few days ago. The long face hair was still dominantly covering his face while his eyes trained through Elsa in a sharp gaze. The corner of his lips twitched.

"Elsa! Finally you came to pay me a visit, huh? Sorry I didn't have a chance to dress properly to greet you." he cackled sarcastically.

"It's Queen Elsa to you!" she hissed dangerously through her teeth.

"Ooh, I like it when you get all worked up. Kind of arousing."

Upon hearing that, something snapped inside of Richard. He charged forward towards the auburn haired man in a swift motion, grabbed him by the collar and shoved him violently against the hard brick wall of his cell.

"Say something like that again, and you're going to lose another body parts!" he threatened before landed a backslap on Hans's already bruised face. Blood was trickling down his lips.

The prisoner growled towards him.

"Richard, enough!" Elsa's voice was stern.

"Yes, Richard, listen to your Queen." Hans grinned devilishly.

The prince released Hans from his grasp. Oh, how much he wished to end his life right here right now! Richard said internally. If only it wasn't because of his respect towards Elsa he might do it already.

"What are you planning to do, Hans?" Elsa asked while her icy blue eyes pierced through his emerald green eyes.

"Why, I planned to get my revenge my dear Queen. I told you about it! I'm impressed you're still alive though."

She could feel her powers started to flow through her veins. Her temper flared up in an instant.

"Tell. Me. The. Rest. Of. Your. Plan! I know this isn't just about getting your revenge! Because what you did was stupid and sloppy!" her voice raised.

"No! I could've killed you if it wasn't for this bootlicker over here!"

Richard was about to lunged forward again when Elsa held up her hand. Her expression went still. The temperature around the cell dropped drastically in a matter of second. The Queen held her chin high as regal as ever. She sent the prisoner a deathly icy glare.

"Have it your way, then." her voice went steady and chilly. "I received a letter from your brother the King of the Southern Isles. He said he didn't want anything to do with you anymore, so he gave me full authority to prosecute you here. Based on the law, an attempt to kill the Queen means you committed treason. The punishment for treason in Arendelle is a death penalty. So, enjoy your last few days while you can. Unless you want to tell me the rest of your plan, then I might consider waiving the death penalty."

Elsa felt satisfaction surged through her when she saw his face shifted into what looked like fear. She would recognise the sign of fear easily as she was living with it for thirteen years of her life.

"You're threatening me now, Elsa! I'm not you who succumbed easily into fear! You will find that the word 'fear' is not in my vocabulary!" he snapped and walked closer to Elsa.

The young Queen stood her ground. She didn't even flinch.

"Perhaps," she said calmly, "but it's in your eyes."

His breathing ragged, emotion boiled inside him, ready to burst at any second.

She gritted her teeth as her own anger kept plummeting higher. "You make me sick!" she hissed once more before she turned on heels and exited the cell.

The guard who stood not far from the cell came back and locked the cell door after the Queen and the Prince was outside.

With the wave of her left wrist, she created a thin layer of ice inside his cell. The outside of the cell was unaffected. Only then she heard Hans's wail. "What did you do, witch?!"

Elsa ignored all the cursing words he threw at her. She kept walking towards the entrance of the castle, only turned to the guard when she neared the entrance. "He's going to need medical attention later."

"I'll tend to him, Your Majesty." the guards acknowledged her.

With that, she climbed the spiral staircase and went straight to the direction of the garden. The only place that could clear her mind. Elsa let out a long sigh once her vision was filled with a pleasant landscape of the garden.

Richard stayed quiet for a while and gave her a chance to calmed herself down. He was actually surprised by her bold move towards Hans. She was the most calm and collected person she ever met, but the way she was handling the situation in the dungeon was not at all what he expected.

"What exactly did you do to him?" he asked carefully once he saw her shoulder went loose.

"I froze his cell. But not severe enough to cause permanent damage. He might catch a mild hypothermia, though. The ice will wear off once he caught the effect."

"You can do that?"

It brought a smirk on her face, "the last time I checked, I'm the ice wielder. So, yeah."

"Well that reminds me to never get in your bad side." he joked.

Her smirk didn't falter. "Would you care to accompany me take a stroll around the garden?"

"I'd loved to." He offered his arm and she took it gracefully.

Something about what Elsa said in the dungeon tickled his curiosity. He wasn't sure she told Hans the truth about her threat.

"Does the King of the Southern Isles really gave you full custody of him?"

Elsa turned and that playful smirk grew wider. "No, I was bluffing. It takes two days to send a letter from here to the Southern Isles, I asked Lord Solfeg my private secretary to write the report to the King on my behalf. He probably just received it today."

Richard chuckled. "It was a smart move though. You could see how his face turned pale after you said he would face the death penalty. Wait, what do you think the King would do?"

"Honestly, I don't know. The last time we correspondent to each other, he had a hard time believing what his brother did and tried hard to apologise to me."

"What if he really gives you the full custody of Hans? Think about it, Your Majesty, he was stripped off of his title, he entered Arendelle's border when he clearly banned from entering without your consent, that basically trespassing. He acted on his own name this time, I think it's logical that his brother want nothing more than to get rid of him so the tension between Arendelle and Southern Isles would lessen."

That got Elsa thinking. It was logical, alright. She had no idea what she would do if the King of the Southern Isles decided to give her a full custody on Hans. She hated the idea of a death penalty. It made her seemed ruthless and brutal beside she thought that compulsory death sentence was too harsh. It made her wonder what her father would do if he were to put in this situation. Elsa knew her father had a strict policy about sticking to the law and believing in their justice system. But he was also a very wise and kind man, surely he would consider every aspects of the crime before sentencing a criminal, right?

"You know, at a time like this I wish my father could be here to guide me. I hate the idea of death penalty, Rick. It is too ruthless and harsh. I also believed people could not born evil. Circumstances and life shaped them to be bad. Even then I don't see them as evil, just misunderstood."

He smiled and admired her fairness. Most of the rulers out there would immediately put brainless criminal like Hans in the hanging platform after what he'd done. He himself probably would've done the same. This woman however, could somehow see behind those evil facade and see good in people. How is that even possible? He wondered.

Richard stopped when they were under a tree that filled with a white petal flowers. He reached out to pick the flower and handed to the platinum blonde.

"You still love Magnolia, right?"

The woman in Question smiled and accepted it. She sniffed it a little. A distinct fragrance emanated from the white flower. "I'm surprised that you remembered my favourite flower."

"It's hard to forget because it fits you perfectly. Everything about the flower also describes you."

Elsa lifted her brow, intrigued. "Oh, how so?"

"Magnolia is a very attractive flower, yet it also gives a vibe of elegance and poise. It represent the symbol of nobility, perseverance, and strength. It looks soft and subtle in colour but has a very strong appearance. It's delicate but has a strong endurance as it could survive under harsher condition and weather. You are an extremely attractive woman, you have this elegance vibe in everything you do, people would think that you're very delicate when they first met you, but inside, there's a great amount of strength in you. So, I think it suits you very well, Your Majesty."

To say she wasn't feeling a little bit fuzzy inside would be a big fat lie! She knew his reputation as quite a ladies man, so she shouldn't be surprised to receive a generous amount of flattery that he threw at her. Most of them were meaningless, it was just his way of showing his charm. But somehow, she caught a hint of sincerity in each words that came out of his mouth. Did he really mean it?

Elsa banished that thought in an instant. No way! She'd known Richard ever since they were little. It would be weird to feel that way towards him. But silently she let that warmth sensation spread in her chest. She couldn't betray her own heart that felt a little bit special after what he said.

"You know what, Rick. If only we hadn't known each other ever since we were little and I just met you now, I might fall head over heels with you and in everything you just said to me." she grinned.

His face fell in an instant. "Oh, you wound my pride, Your Majesty. I was being sincere and honest."

This time, Elsa laughed. "Try harder next time. I told you before, that charm won't work on me."

"Oh come on, Elsa. Not even a tad? You're lying, right? Most women would melt with that! No pun intended." he was still in disbelieve.

"I'm not most women. You should already know that with my ability it would take a whole lot harder to make me melt." Her eyes glimmered with mischievousness.

He joined her laugh but still could not believe that his charm still couldn't work on her. She was the only one who could easily deflate his persona. It seemed all of his tricks to flirt with a woman didn't affect her at all. Which was why he was so content to keep trying to make her at least believe his sincere compliment. Because everything that he said to her was true. Yet, she dismissed it effortlessly and didn't even flattered at all. Perhaps next time he would try a different strategy. He smirked internally.

* * *

 **Any reviews would be very appreciated. :)**


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